Player workload worries as Laidley, Northsiders in vital wins

FOR title contenders Laidley, beating major rivals Centrals on their home turf was a massive result.

The Blue Dogs remain unbeaten from three games in this year's Harding Madsen Shield competition after their latest 28 run victory at Limestone Park.

"They (Centrals) will be there at the end of the season so it's good to get one over them early,'' said Laidley middle order batsman Matt Grassick, who topscored with 50.

Centrals showed their usual fight in a low-scoring contest recovering from 7/50 to give the Blue Dogs a late scare.

Centrals opening bowler Alex Dell had earlier helped restrict the powerful Laidley line-up to 173 as he snared 6/35 off his 10 overs.

That included the vital wicket of Michael Sippel for 2, after the Laidley all-rounder smacked 115 not out the previous week.

"He does bowl good line and length,'' Grassick said of Dell.

"The top three or four of our blokes just played shots to get ourselves out really.''

As Laidley and Centrals lobby to be Harding Madsen Shield series victors, teams like Northsiders continue to develop their talent, led by some seasoned performers.

Northsiders club president, first-team coach and opening batsman Stephen Humphreys hit 37 off 30 balls before backing up later to take 4/44 bowling his medium pacers.

He recalled it being his first top grade wicket since about 1993/94.

Most pleasing for Humphreys was getting up by 50 runs without representative players Luke Pollock (work commitments) and Troy Cooper (being rested).

"That was a must win game for us,'' he said, after Northsiders had struggled with the bat in their first two clashes against competition heavyweights Laidley and Toowoomba Wests.

Humphreys said Northsiders' situation highlighted a current concern in the game.

Cooper is taking a break after playing 17 games in six weeks.

That featured club commitments, Len Martin T20 games, captaining SEQ in the recent Bulls Masters tournament and being involved in the Darling Downs Big Bash League (DDBBL).

"He has just played so much cricket,'' Humphreys said.

"Probably more broadly, we've got a few guys who are feeling the pinch a little bit.

"Our second graders for example, are playing four games in eight days so it's been quite a massive start to the season.''

As a club leader on and off the field, Humphreys has been monitoring workloads.

He's already given his players across the grades a Tuesday night off training to freshen them up.

"I'm a massive supporter of how we started the season,'' the Ipswich stalwart said.

"I do wonder if there's been a little too much cricket.

"If you played every game in the T20s, and you played every game in the Len Martin and Harding Madsen and every game in the DDBBL and you've gone away with rep cricket, that's a lot of cricket,'' he said.

"We are not professionals.

"We are amateurs and that does worry me.''

Humphreys was pleased to see players like Caleb Doyle and Cody Dalziel given an increased opportunity with Cooper being rested.

"It's heartening - with my coach and president's hat on - that we've got a bit of depth and we've been able to bring those young guys up and give them a chance,'' he said.

"Both of them did a really good job on Saturday.''

He also appreciated having bowling stalwart Kev Cumming back and accomplished Gold Coast batsman Shane Krings to provide more stability.

"We needed that team performance, particularly with the bat,'' he said.

"We've been pretty poor the last two weeks.

"We couldn't be happier with the win.''

In the tight Laidley v Centrals game, Grassick said it was a spirited performance by Laidley's bowlers, led by Jem Ryan (3/16), Tom Sippel (3/19), Samson Ryan (2/23) and Ash Lawless (2/21).

"They took a fair few early wickets and then got the job done at the end,'' he said.

Batting at five, Grassick was happy with his contribution.

"It would have been good to hang around a bit longer but I got a good ball (from Brendan Ashton). It came back a bit late and got me out,'' he said.

The Laidley first grade regular also scored a half century in his team's opening game against Uni in Toowoomba.

With no grand final in this year's 45-over competition, Grassick was pleased about Laidley's positive start. Each team plays each other once before the top side claims the title.

"We're got three from three at the moment so we're going all right,'' he said.

Laidley is also without their highly regarded skipper Alex Welsh who broke the last knuckle on one of his fingers earlier in the competition.

"The team has got a few new faces at the moment so we're just working out where even fits and what their role is,'' Grassick said.

"It's been a good start.''

In another weekend Harding Madsen match, Marburg Mt Crosby Thunder (217) lost to Brothers Diggers (8/260).

STATE OF PLAY

Harding Madsen Shield Rd 3

Central Districts v Laidley District at Limestone Park

Laidley Innings

Chris Wilson c Abbott b Dell 2 (6)

Tom Sippel c Dobson b Vellacott 36 (44)

Gerard Sippel c&b Dell 1 (15)

Michael Sippel c Cupit b Dell 2 (10)

Matthew Grassick lbw Ashton 50 (58)

Josh Reisenleiter lbw Ashton 12 (37)

Shanley Neuendorf c Dobson b Dell 15 (28)

Jem Ryan b Dell 1 (6)

Samson Ryan not out 19 (21)

Liam Dean c Dobson b Dell 0 (4)

Ash Lawless b Barrett 7 (15)

Extras (2b 9lb 19w 2nb) 32

Total (39.5ov) 173

FoW: 2, 15, 23, 57, 122, 127, 136, 147, 148, 173.

B owling: Alex Dell 10/0/35/6; Sam Strong 4/0/10/0; Lachlan Vellacott 7/0/22/1; Mick Abbott 6/0/35/0; Tom Cupit 4/0/41/0; Brendan Ashton 6/1/15/2; Luke Barrett 2.4/0/8/1.

Centrals Innings

Wayne Jones c Grassick b J. Ryan 8 (22)

Luke Barrett lbw J.Ryan 2 (16)

Lachlan Vellacott c Grassick b S. Ryan 28 (39)

Caleb Risson b J.Ryan 0 (2)

Sam Strong lbw Lawless 4 (18)

Harry Dobson c Reisenleiter b Lawless 0 (3)

Braydon Osborne lbw S. Ryan 31 (44)

Tom Cupit lbw S.Ryan 0 (1)

Michael Abbott not out 34 (60)

Alex Dell b T. Sippel 3 (12)

Brendan Ashton c Lawless b T. Sippel 14 (32)

Extras (2b 6lb 12w 2nb) 22

Total (42ov) 145

FoW: 6, 13, 13, 42, 42, 50, 50, 110, 119, 145

Bowling: Liam Dean 7/0/22/0; Jem Ryan 7/1/16/3; Samson Ryan 6/1/23/2; Ash Lawless 4/0/21/2; Josh Reisenleiter 9/1/36/0; Tom Sippel 9/0/19/3.

Laidley win by 28 runs.

Northsiders v Brothers at Sternberg Oval

Northsiders Innings

Stephen Humphreys c ? 37 (30)

Caleb Doyle c ? b 4 (29)

Corey Flood lbw 20 (40)

Nick Verrenkamp run out 4 (26)

Shane Krings c 49 (65)

Zach Fisher c 39 (50)

Cody Dalziel run out 7 (9)

Dom Salton run out 11 (5)

Nathan Fisher not out 7 (4)

Extras (4b 3lb 12w 1nb) 20

Total (45ov) 8/198

FoW: 41, 45, 62, 81, 169, 178, 180, 198

Brothers Innings

Extras (1lb 9w) 10

Total (37.5ov) 139

Bowling: Callum Wilton 10/4/29/0; Kev Cumming 7/0/16/1; Dom Salton 10/1/33/3; Stephen Humphreys 9/1/44/4; Zach Fisher 1.5/0/16/1.

Marburg Mt Crosby Thunder v Northern Brothers Diggers at Tivoli No.1

Diggers Innings

L. Reen b Klass 24 (42)

B. Anderson c T. Anderson b P. Schmidt 14 (14)

K. Glass c N. Raine b P. Schmidt 0 (2)

C. Hall b Klass 6 (5)

C. Walker c Watts b P. Schmidt 77 (89)

J. Wikaire c N. Raine b Sefont 4 (7)

D. Nitschke c Watts b P. Schmidt 105 (100)

K. Bradford c J. Anderson b P. Schmidt 1 (5)

B. Smith not out 11 (6)

C. Philip not out 5 (2)

Extras (4lb 7w 2nb) 13

Total (45ov) 8/260

FoW: 36, 36, 43, 50, 54, 221, 228, 252

Bowling: Blayde Klass 10/0/75/2; Patrick Schmidt 10/3/39/5; Lee Watts 7/1/38/0; Lucas Sefont 6/0/31/1; Todd Anderson 9/0/46/0; Nick Raine 3/0/27/0.

Thunder Innings

Jacob Anderson b Bradford 16 (18)

Todd Anderson c&b Smith 8 (11)

Nick Raine c Anderson b Bradford 15 (18)

Lee Watts b Smith 7(9)

Tobias Nugter run out (Smith) 63(84)

Aaron Nugter c Wikaire b Nitschke 19(33)

Mitch Raine c Anderson b Nitschke 5(7)

Oliver Schmidt run out 1(16)

Lucas Sefont lbw Bradford 35(35)

Blayde Klass not out 17(18)

Patrick Schmidt b Anderson 6(12)

Extras (8lb 16w 1nb) 25

Total (43.1ov) 217

FoW: 31, 33, 52, 58, 120, 128, 132, 187, 204, 217

Bowling: K. Bradford 10/0/40/3; B. Smith 10/0/54/2; C. Philip 4/0/34/0; K. Glass 6/0/25/0; D. Nitschke 8/0/25/2; B. Anderson 5.1/0/31/1.

Cricket Ipswich

2nd Division

Centrals 5/153 (35.3) - Joel Teske 16 (45), Dan Smith 24 (20), Jamie Koch 10 (38), Kobe Rae 20 (45), Mitch Gardner 17* (54), Campbell Moore 13 (11), Callum Johnson 15* (23); Lachlan Griffiths 1/27 (8), Patrick Towne 2/20 (8), Mick Conway 2/21 (5.3) defeated Brothers 9/149 (40) - Lachlan Griffiths 12 (30), Scott Lavery 42 (34), Hayden Walker 37 (40), Darren Meier 10 (25), Mick Conway 13* (15); Daniel Warner 8/1/17/4, Bill Johnson 3/25(8), Callum Johnson 2/38 (7).

Laidley 3/150 (23.4) defeated Northsiders 145 (36.4).

3rd Division T20s: Thunder 3/121 (14) - William Tronc 19, Brent Gill 16, Alfonso Jimenez 25*, Jai Rose 46* defeated Redbacks 120 (17.4) - Brent Gill 3/25 (4), Jai Rose 2/31 (3), Tom Williams 2/30 (3.4), William Johnstone 3/20 (4).

Laidley 3/168 (20) defeated Strollers White 6/109 (16.1) under Duckworth Lewis method.