Albany and Districts Cricket Association under-16A junior country week side bounce back from sluggish start

Reigning junior country week under-16A premiers Albany and Districts Cricket Association stumbled out of the blocks in their title defence, but two strong wins in the following rounds have got their campaign back on track. The under-16A Whalers side features a strong cohort of ADCA A-grade players but started slowly in their quest for back-to-back country week premierships. In their opening T20, the Whalers suffered an agonising six-run loss to the Bunbury and Districts at Richardson Park on Monday. Reagan Christensen’s (Manypeaks) 2-15 spearheaded the bowling attack, as ADCA restricted Bunbury and Districts to 117 at the end of their innings. Skipper Buddy Robinson (Collingwood Park) top-scored with 45 in the chase but lacked substantial partnerships. The Whalers bounced back in the second game of their T20 doubleheader at Richardson Park, cruising to a three-wicket win against Busselton-Margaret River Things really began to click in their first one-day fixture in round three after they demolished Broome by five wickets at Cook Reserve on Tuesday. Max Osbourne (Mt Barker) scored a game-high 84 runs at the top of the order, which included nine boundaries. The Whalers piled on 209 before being bowled out in the 49th over. ADCA under-14A skipper Dash Germinario provided a true captain’s knock in their first match of the tournament against Peel Country, plundering 94 runs from 92 balls. Germinario added to his impressive first innings score with a 29 in game two. The Whalers’ under-14B side have had a tough welcome to the tournament and are winless after round three.