On a beautiful evening at the John Hopkins ground, Hawkesbury finally got their 2019 League campaign underway but came up short against an experienced and disciplined Rockhampton team.

There were still plenty of positives for the home side though, with several of the side play their first games of hard ball cricket.

Fielding first, Charlie Emms (3-2-4-3, incl a double wicket maiden) was the pick of the home side’s bowlers but after a quiet start Rockhampton started to put bat to ball and with the extras tally starting to stack up, the visitors looked set for a big score.
Francis Hopson (1-14) and Seth James (1-26) looked to stem the tide and after a dozy start there was some good fielding. Full credit to Lewis Green for donning the gauntlets for the first time behind the timber.

Though ‘extras’ proved Hawkesbury’s Achilles heel, there was some good batting by the ‘Rams from Hopkins (20), Sherred-Isles (16), Young (16) & Pullin (16) as they finished on a formidable 156-5 from their allotted 16 overs.

Emms (14) and Hopson (8) got the Hawkesbury reply off to a steady start in the face of some accurate bowling and keen fielding.
The second pairing of Chloe Wallace (8) and, the pick of the Hawkesbury batters, Will Bennett (20) added impetus to the run chase. With only one wicket lost, the hosts were well in the hunt at this stage.
Thereafter the difference in experience between the two sides began to tell and though wickets remained intact, the runs started to dry up with some more accurate bowling from the visitors.

Champagne moment, though, went to Lewis for his ‘ramp shot’ midway through the Hawkesbury innings. “He was practising that at training last week” added a teammate, helpfully. Rumours that dad Tony will be looking to unleash a similar shot in an upcoming 2nd XI game were unconfirmed.

A tough start then, but a nice game played in the right spirit - plenty of positives with lots to work on at training on Friday. Hope you’ve all done your homework??