Day 1
Defending premiers Ulverstone hold the upper hand after the opening day of the Hursey Seafoods Cricket North West 1st Grade men's grand final after their bowlers enjoyed a fruitful day against Sheffield.
After Mountaineers coach Marc Simonds elected to bat first on a pitch that still had a green tinge to it, the Black Caps attack went to work with immediate dividends as opening quicks Matt Varner and Rhys French ripped through the top order.
With only one run on the board, Sheffield had already lost four wickets, with Varner (4-26) claiming Harry Collier, Jordan Marshall and Eli Connelly all without scoring, while French (1-17) snared the huge wicket of CNW Player of the Year, Alex King, for just 1.
Ethan Clark and Clayton Campbell started the rescue mission, but Clark fell for 16 before lunch as he tried to hit Ulverstone captain Alex Wynwood down the ground and was stumped.
Campbell (21 off 134 balls) continued to frustrate the Black Caps and put on a further 39 runs for the sixth wicket with Simonds before he became Wynwood's second victim when he mistimed a shot to be caught by Jacob Snare at mid-off from a leading edge.
Wynwood continued to draw false shots out of the Sheffield batsmen, grabbing the wicket of Simonds for 31 on his way to impressive figures of 4-15 from 18.3 overs.
Jonah Evans showed his maturity to compile a well-made 28, but as he ran out of partners, he was the last to fall when he was caught by Jake Vincent in the deep with the score on 122 in the 83rd over. Left with an hour to bat to see out the day, Ulverstone made a bright start through openers Jordan Kelly and Brayden DeVries until DeVries was caught behind, much to his dismay, off the bowling of Aiden Marshall for 10.
Kelly (16no) and Jake Vincent (5no) saw the Black Caps through to stumps at 1-32, albeit with one moment of controversy when Kelly was given not out off a confident caught behind appeal from the Mountaineers. Play will resume at 11am on Saturday at the Latrobe Recreation Ground, with Sheffield on the hunt for quick wickets in the opening hour to prevent Ulverstone from establishing any sort of first innings lead.
Day 1 – Sheffield 122 (82.3 overs) – M Simonds 31 (89 balls), J Evans 28 (115), C Campbell 21 (134), M Varner 4/26 (23 overs), R French 1/17 (10), A Wynwood 4/15 (18.3), B King 1/21 (12) versus Ulverstone 1/32.
Day 2
The Hursey Seafoods Cricket North West 1st Grade grand final is set for an intriguing finish after Sheffield dragged themselves off the canvas late on day two to give themselves a faint hope against Ulverstone at the Latrobe Recreation Ground.
The Black Caps looked to be in complete control of the game at the tea interval, having reached 2-162 thanks to an unbeaten 76-run stand between Jake Vincent (68 off 216 balls) and Jack Pearce (37 from 151 balls).
But after going wicketless in the first two sessions, Sheffield swing king Aiden Marshall (5-48) made the first breakthrough straight after the break, getting Vincent caught behind with the old ball, before the left-armer, Sam Robinson (3-38) and Logan Heazlewood (2-24) wreaked havoc with the second new ball.
Heazlewood begun the Black Caps collapse with the wickets of Alex Wynwood and Jacob Snare in the 87th over, followed by Marshall removing Pearce in the next over.
Brandon King and Toby Hutton tried to steady the ship until Hutton fell for 7 to a sharp catch from Harry Collier at gully off Robinson, and Ulverstone coach Rhys French was heading back to the changerooms just two balls later following Robinson's excellent caught and bowled dismissal.
Matthew Varner was unable to recreate his batting heroics from 12 months earlier when he was bowled by Marshall for a duck, and the Black Caps innings ended on 195 when Coby Walmsley met the same fate the very next ball, completing a collapse of 8-34.
However, just as the Mountaineers had dreams of a miracle comeback, Ulverstone hit back in the final six overs of the day through Varner, with the import claiming the wickets of openers Collier and Clayton Campbell.
Sheffield will resume the final day of the season at 2-6, still needing another 67 runs to make Ulverstone bat again on a wicket that still has some assistance in it for the bowlers. The likes of Alex King, Jordan Marshall and Marc Simonds will be the key batsmen as they first look to erase the deficit before trying to set Ulverstone some sort of target with enough overs left in the day to bowl them out for a second time.
Day 2 – Sheffield 122 & 2/6 (M Varner 2/2 (3 overs) versus Ulverstone 195 (J Vincent 68 (216 balls), J Kelly 37 (107), J Pearce 37 (151), A Marshall 5/48(31.3 overs), S Robinson 3/38 (25), L Heazlewood 2/24 (15).
Day 3
Ulverstone has claimed its 14th NWTCA/CNW 1st Grade flag and fourth in succession with a convincing outright win over Sheffield in the 2024-2025 decider at the Latrobe Recreation Ground on Sunday.
Starting the day at 2-6 in their second innings and still 67 runs in arrears, the Mountaineers' first order of business on day three was to erase the deficit, then look to establish some sort of lead that they could bowl to in the afternoon.
But the Black Caps bowling attack had other ideas, steadily ripping though the Sheffield middle order thanks to wickets to Jayden Beaumont, Matt Varner, Brandon King and Jacob Snare to leave them teetering at 8-52 at lunch.
The end came soon after the interval when captain-coach Marc Simonds and Aiden Marshall were both caught in the deep, sparking celebrations both on and off the pitch as Ulverstone celebrated a win by an innings and three runs.
Varner claimed his second consecutive Dale Baker medal for player of the match thanks to his two hauls of 4-26 and 3-25, with the latter including a marathon 12-over spell to start day three.
It is the second time Ulverstone have claimed four 1st Grade flags in a row after their triumphs between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015 and cements their standing as a modern-day goliath of the competition.
Day 3 – Sheffield 122 & 70 (M Varner 3/15 (25 overs), J Snare 3/14 (10.5), B King 2/16 (5) lost to Ulverstone 195 by an innings and 3 runs.
Dale Baker Player of the Match: Matthew Varner
Report: Brad Cole
