A career best score from Englishman Josh Sackfield and some late wickets on day one of its round five Bairnsdale Cricket Association fixture has propelled Lakes Entrance into a dominant position.
Unbeaten in the first four rounds and currently sitting second on the ladder, the Seagulls won the toss and amassed a huge 6/358 from 69 overs against traditional rival Orbost at the Lakeside Oval last Saturday.
Declaring late in the day, a tired and morale-sapped Blues outfit limped to 2/19.
Opening the batting with co-captain Ben John, Sackfield batted superbly making 175 runs from just 204 balls, including 22 stylish boundaries.
He has certainly adapted to the Australian conditions better the second time around after making some solid contributions in season 2022/23.
John (35) and Sackfield shared in a 83-run opening partnership which set the tone for the day for Lakes Entrance, as it batted at a run rate of greater than five an over.
Wickets were hard-earned for the Blues as Liam Allen joined Sackfield, the pair combining for a 110-run partnership for the second wicket, Allen making a nice maiden “A” grade half century from just 68 balls, including three boundaries and a maximum, which bought applause from his teammates.
One of the features of the 2024/25 Seagulls has been the partnership, which has seen the side convert last season’s totals of 140-160 into 200 and beyond.
Sackfield was eventually dismissed with the score on 291, sharing another 98-run unison with fellow import Jack Timms, who again impressed making a well-accumulated 61 not out from just 52 balls, including four boundaries.
Timms’ ability to rotate the strike and run hard between the wickets has been a feature of his game.
Continued page 23
From page 24
The Seagulls lost wickets as they pushed forward towards 400, finally declaring the innings closed at 358 after the dismissal of co-captain Jake Le Maitre for 15 off 14 balls.
The leading wicket takers for the Blues were Alex Hulme (2/104) and Luke Endley (2/77).
It’s always a tough ask to bat late in the day after you have chased plenty of leather and that was the case as they lost key strikers Jayden Price and Mikael Hulme in those tough final 11 overs.
Timms and fellow northern hemisphere player Sam Kincaid were the wicket takers.
The mood was upbeat in the Seagulls rooms after the day’s play with co-captain John delighted with the outcome.
“We are playing exciting cricket, we aren’t usually a side to declare early, but the match was ideally set up by superb batting so we rolled the dice,” John said.
Lakes Entrance is getting outstanding output from its imports, which isn’t lost on John.
“Kincaid and Timms have had exceptional starts to the season, Sackfield was next level today, not sure why he isn’t in the Bairnsdale Cricket Association representative side,” John said.
Despite having only nine players in “B” grade, Lakes Entrance managed to defeat Paynesville by 11 runs.
Batting first the Seagulls finished their allocated 40 overs on 7/212, highlighted by 52 from skipper Jacob Daly and 68 from Laurie Thomson in the middle order.
The pair shared a 97-run partnership, which ultimately was match winning.
In reply, the Gulls were tracking along nicely before being dismissed in the 36th over for 201.
Wickets were shared between James Daly (2/33), Max Stevens (1/33), Tully Davis (3/24) and man of the match Thomson (3/24).
This week “B” grade will play Wy Yung at Cameron White Oval.
In the under 13s Lakes Entrance White lost by one-run victory against West Bairnsdale/Wy Yung on Friday night.
This week they take on Meerlieu 754 at the Bairnsdale Primary School on Friday night, while the Maroon team has a bye.
