Fourth team find winning formula as Albany and Districts Cricket Association’s sole country week title winners

Albany and Districts’ F-troops, playing in the basement section at CSBP senior country week competition in Perth, came home with the spoils after topping the ladder. With three victories and one loss in a successful F-section campaign, the ADCA fourth-team mix of young hopefuls and old warriors did the business, heading off Busselton-Margaret River 4s to top the five-team table. They were the only Albany and Districts side to come home with a title, under captain Damien Schwarzbach. Sitting third before their last game on Friday after their bye the previous day, a thumping seven-wicket win over their nearest rivals saw them leapfrog the lot and claim the title on net run rate. That key win against Busselton-Margaret River was achieved largely through a brilliant knock from Jordan Draper whose 95 came off just 50 balls and included nine sixes. He didn’t get much help from his teammates in the chase, but it hardly mattered as he took massive swipes at the Busselton-Margaret River bowling. ADCA 4 were chasing a target of 113 after Busselton-Margaret River were removed for 112. Their top scorer was opener Lachlan Kirkham with 19 as the Whalers got to work with the ball, Draper, Nathan Benson, Brendan Girak and Will Elms each taking two wickets. Benson’s 2-15 was the best of the bunch. With Draper on fire, Albany and Districts reply required just 15 overs, Paul Nielsen (8 not out) grabbing four runs to take F-troop to 3-116. Busselton-Margaret River finished second ahead of Green Range-Ongerup with two Bunbury and Districts sides propping up the ladder. ADCA 4 had opened their week with an eight-wicket win over Bunbury and Districts, as ADCA easily chased down 62 to win. Jake Schwarzbach starred with 5-14 in the first-up win. Green Range-Ongerup opted to bat in their meeting on Monday and were all out for 188, with Girak taking 3-26. The ADCA reply fell well short as Nielsen (44) and Darren Grey (33) provided the resistance. They were all out for 149, which was their only loss of the week. They got the better of Bunbury and Districts F2 on Wednesday, reaching 4-223 as they chased down their opponents’ 50-over total of 9-222. Draper (68) and Jeremy Watson (60) did the business with the bat while Jake Schwarzbach and Elms took three wickets each. It was an excellent week for Draper, finishing as F-section’s top run scorer with 188 at an average of 47 while Jake Schwarzbach and Girak claimed nine and eight wickets respectively.