Ethan Brookes hit his third century of the winter to help Prahran CC through to the final of the Victorian Premier Cricket first grade competition with a seven wicket success against Geelong CC in a two day fixture over the weekend.
Worcestershire’s new signing ended his current spell in Australia by making 145 off 265 balls with four sixes and 15 fours.
He came to the wicket at 65-2 on day two with Prahran chasing a formidable Geelong total of 356-5 declared from 87 overs.
But Brookes and Damon Egan (154 not out) then put on a magnificent 267 for the third wicket and Prahran eventually reached 362-3 in 98.5 overs.
Josh Baker registered his 50th wicket of the winter for Northern District CC but his latest impressive performance was in vain as his side went down by seven wickets to UTS North Sydney CC in the final of the New South Wales Premier Cricket Poidevin-Gray Shield final on Sunday.
Baker came on as the fifth bowler and bowled his quota of overs in one spell to finish with figures of 10-1-29-1.
He entered the attack for the 15th over and dismissed opener Ollie Sykes (60) in his second over.
Baker kept a tight rein on the UTS batters, conceding just one boundary in his first nine overs, but they were able to reach their 197 target in 37.3 overs.
Northern District had been bowled out for 196 in 48.4 overs with Baker dismissed for a single batting at number seven.
Baker had also been part of the Northern District side which came close to gaining an outright win against the same opponents on day two of a New South Wales Premier Cricket first grade encounter on Saturday.
He hit a quickfire 16 not out off seven balls with two sixes before Northern District declared at 364-7 from 75 overs.
Baker was used sparingly with the ball but made one breakthrough during a spell of 4-1-17-1 as UTS were dismissed for 169 in their first innings.
They followed on and ended on 169-8 with Baker having figures of 7-3-26-0.
Ed Pollock struck a quickfire 32 as St. George CC triumphed by seven wickets on day two of their New South Wales Premier Cricket first grade meeting with Hawkesbury CC.
After a rain-affected opening day, Hawkesbury reached 288-6 in 86 overs before declaring.
Pollock then hit seven boundaries in his 25-ball knock when opening to give the St. George innings early momentum they never relinquished in totalling 290-3 in just 53 overs.
Adam Finch made 31 off 40 balls batting at number six for Sturt CC who defeated Glenelg CC by 109 runs in the South Australia Cricket Association first grade.
Finch helped Sturt reach 258-8 in 50 overs and was not required with the ball but he did take the catch to dismiss Glenelg opener and captain Harry Cunningham as they were bowled out for 149.
Gareth Roderick has enjoyed a successful winter with the bat when skippering Green Point CC but was dismissed for a duck as opponents Rondebosch (163-7) triumphed by three wickets in a Western Province Premier Division fixture.
Cameron Jones (5-0-10-1 and 12 not out) was on the losing side as Collingwood Park CC (196) went down by 33 runs to Mount Barker Bulls CC (229-5) in a Albany and Districts Cricket Association meeting.
