Stafa Shines in Loss

Singleton’s Stafa Shines v Muswellbrook High.

In the Upper Hunter divisional day for the Under 14 Boys Cricket, high expectations were put on the Singleton team, led by captain Alex Stafa. While a late withdrawal from Kurri Kurri made the path to round two slightly easier, there was always going to be the added pressure of having our local rivals Muswellbrook in the same pool.

Once Muswellbrook easily accounted for Maitland Grossman, all eyes were on the anticipated derby and some key match ups between bat and ball.

After losing the toss, but getting to bat, openers Hamish Snape and Oliver Gunn looked to take the shine off the ball and lay a platform for the rest of the team. Both boys unfortunately succumbed to fine deliveries and an impressive slips catch.

This brought Stafa and Brandon Carman to the crease and they steadied the ship, while still boosting the run rate. A quick fire 36 for Stafa was looking ominous until a miscued shot saw his departure.

While Carman and Clancy Cameron tried to continue applying pressure, a couple of good balls from the bowlers brought about a tail end collapse. Defending 67 was going to be a big ask.

Wickets were required and quickly. Stafa opened the bowling and his pace, matched with the greasy ground conditions and inconsistent light made it hard work for both batter and keeper. But a ball colliding at speed into the stumps was all that was asked and in the first over, delivered.

In the second over, Kamrann Harman showed patience and maturity to combine with Carman to convert a running mix up into a run out. Two down ... Wickets 3 and 4 soon followed with some more accurate bowling from Stafa, with Muswellbrook only achieving 14 runs at this point. While the spirits in the boys were high,

Muswellbrook showed patience and depth to see off the opening 8 overs, while still adding runs to the board. While Stafa did bag a 4th wicket and Lachlan Fleming picked up a consolation scalp, the risk/reward approach with pace at the cost of runs from edges or byes to get quick wickets didn’t quite pay off as the score was run down with the loss of 6 wickets in 12 overs.

The camaraderie and sportsmanship, as always, is to be commended, especially in a game where Muswellbrook seized all of their tight opportunities to gain the upper hand. To hang in and apply pressure and nearly achieve the unexpected made the opposition nervous and showed our own level of resilience.

While it is stumps for the Under 14s this year, expect to see a number of these boys making the step to Opens by the end of this year and beyond for Alex Stafa, who led from the front with both bat and ball, no doubt will be donning at the very least the yellow and blue for Hunter and hopefully a CHS blue in years to come.

A final thank you to the cricketing parents for their ongoing support, getting the boys to the game and likely washing of the whites after a muddy day in the field!

Nick Mulvihill - Coach