Collendina skipper Nathan Frye blasted a breathtaking century against Wallington on Saturday January 13 to help his side back to the top of the BPCA A2 Grade ladder.
Frye’s magnificent 121 came from just 120 deliveries and included 13 boundaries and five sixes.
“I was a bit scratchy early, but just sort of hung about and I think batting with Matty Davies got me going a bit,” Frye said.
“He started whacking them and that sort of freed me up a little bit, which is great.”
Davies made 68 off 62 balls in the middle order as Collendina posted a huge score of 7/281. Cam Kavaliunas made 33 from 16 late in the innings.
After losing its first game of the season, and top spot on the ladder, Collendina has regained pole position.
“I think the top three sides are very, very even,” Frye said.
“And we’ve usually got three or four juniors playing with us, so it’s pretty facetious of us to think we are going to win every game.
“You don’t want to lose, but to drop one at the time we did it was probably good timing.”
The Cobras then bowled and fielded well and had Wallington all out for 122 in the 29th over.
Gus Peters was expensive, but took three wickets while Corey Walter’s bowling continues to fly under the radar. Walter took 5/25 from eight overs and has made the transition back to the hard wickets of the BPCA with ease.
“Corey bowled really well and took five for not many so it was good to just kill off the game,” Frye said.
“Gussy Peters and Teddy (Farrell) bowled well. Gussy’s figures (3/46 from 6.2 overs) aren’t very flattering, but I thought he bowled well.”
Frye said he was rapt with the bowling and fielding efforts, especially on the fast and high-scoring Oakdene Oval outfield.
“We didn’t let them get a partnership, which I think was very important,” he said.
“We protected the boundaries really well. They probably weren’t getting the value they deserved from their shots. It was a luxury we could afford having set a big score – we can have boundary riders pretty much from the start.”
Collendina faces a vastly improved St Leonards in round 11 in what will be another test.
“Their form is not too bad – they just knocked off Drysdale, who were on top at the start of the round,” Frye said.
“They’ve got some really good batters in that side so we are going to have to bowl well.”
Wallington defeated Collendina in B2 Grade despite good innings from Richie Peters (47), Chris Thompson (47) and Harrisyn Wingrave (44).
Barrabool got the better of the C Grade encounter. Daniel Reeves picked up the outstanding figures of 5/26 and Craig Atkins top scored with 39, but the Cobras fell 53 runs short.
Collendina had to forfeit its D Grade game against Queenscliff.
