Cricket: Royals continue winning spree

Royals' purple patch has continued, this time against Manypeaks with a three-wicket win over the reigning premiers in round seven of Albany Cricket Association A-grade on Saturday.

Picture by Laurie Benson: Manypeaks’ Don Monley is bowled by Royals’ Steve Denton.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl gave the Lions bowlers something to work with on a tacky Turf East surface that the Peaks’ top order struggled with.

Brent Sheridan got Peaks off to a reasonable start before veteran seamer Steve Quain brought about his partner Dave Goodway’s undoing on just three.

Lions’ quick Steve Denton was then rewarded for his tight spell, clean bowling Don Monely (1) and then removing Sheridan (18) to leave Peaks at 3-42.

The pressure was eventually felt as Ryan Kinnear, Aran Tilbury and Chris Flick all fell victim to Lions skipper Tim Hutchison (3-24).

Peaks teenager Shayne Wornes compiled a patient knock around the constant loss of wickets and began to reap the rewards late in his innings.

He surpassed 50 and shared a vital 43-run stand with Josh Towie, guiding Peaks out of real trouble.

Denton (4-18) quickly cleaned up the tail as Peaks posted a modest 152, but the Lions made light work of the chase, passing the total four wickets down.

Another cameo from Hutchison was enough to give the Lions their fourth win on the trot and move them into third position on the A-grade ladder.

Hutchison was bowled by Sheridan for 68 but not before sharing a 79-run partnership with Dale Quain (30) to go with contributions from Angus Andrew (12) and Wayne Harrington (18).

Sheridan (2-20) and Kinnear (1-35) were the pick of the Peaks bowlers as the Lions finished with 7-176.

“Probably the most pleasing thing is the four most senior players all stepped up,” Hutchison said.

“Both (Denton and Steve Quain) give us stability with the ball and you know what they are going to do.”

Despite a brilliant month of cricket, Hutchison would not be drawn into talk of a top-two finish.

“It’s a long way away, we have to continue to play well and have everybody contributing,” he said.

Peaks skipper Kinnear said his team again did not have enough runs on the board and needed to go into the Christmas break on a winning note.

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