St Andrews repeated its Gunstone Cup victory over Swifts-Great Western with a comfortable win in round seven of the Grampians Cricket Association at the weekend.

Batting first, the Combine was dismissed for 148, with the principal scorer once again being Matt Heffer with 41.

Other batsmen to register were Jacob Dunn and Craig Marrow with 29 apiece, while Marcus Elliot was the principal wicket taker for St Andrews with 6/35.

The Saints passed the required score in the 27th over, with Charlie McIntosh, 49, and James Hosking, 27 not out, leading the way.

Many association followers were surprised at Halls Gap’s Charlie McIntosh and Luke Stevens being granted permits to play in the game.

The association granted the permits to prevent the Saints from forfeiting, but with one of the association’s principal run scorers being granted a permit, many believed it had the potential to corrupt the competition’s results.

In the weekend’s other game, Pomonal continued its strong run with a win over Rhymney-Moyston at Moyston.

Batting first, Rhymney-Moyston’s batters were contained by the Tigers’ tight bowling, with Nathan Quick’s 31 runs the only score of note in the team’s total of 9/129.

Clayton Mackley was the best Tiger bowler with 4/30.

Pomonal lost six wickets passing the score, with Cam Holland’s 52 not out being the backbone of the innings.

The Tigers’ recent run of good form will be tested when they come up against premier favourites St Andrews on turf at Gordon Street this weekend.

The Saints have taken all before them lately thanks to their bowlers – Vince Hammam, James Hosking, the Summers brothers and Marcus Elliot have managed to take all the wickets in each match so far, re-enforcing the cricket proverb ‘bowlers win matches’.

Tigers batsmen Clayton Mackley, Matt Peel, Tyler Cronin and Cam Holland will be challenged and need to come up with the runs to match Saints’ Tom Mills, Richard Harrick and Ryan Skiller.

Halls Gap will be vying to get back on the winners’ list against Rhymney-Moyston at Stawell’s Park after a run of losses.

While the Gappers began the season successfully, wins have been hard to come by recently.

If Charlie McIntosh and Max McMahon hit their straps and the rest of the Gappers can chip in with a few runs, they will be well on their way to defeating Rhymney-Moyston, which has had trouble scoring runs on turf wickets.

Rhymney-Moyston batters Eyan Habib, Daniel Taylor and Nathan Quick will all be asked to perform at their best.

– One Short

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