Although the two sides contesting the 2007/08 ACT 1st Grade Final didn’t finish in the top two spots after the preliminary rounds, both sides contained many players who went on to play First-Class, List A or Twenty20 Cricket. The Tuggeranong side contained future representative players Tom Thornton, Ashton May, Jason Floros and Jason Behrendorff while Western District contained Ryan Carters, Ben Oakley and Nathan Lyon.

Weston Creek were the Minor Premiers in 2007/08 but were upset by Western District in the Semi Final. Creek had led the match on the first innings but collapsed in their second innings to Andrew Appledorff (5-43) and Nathan Lyon (3-6) for 106. Wests then scored the required runs to get an unlikely outright victory. In the other semi final, Tuggeranong had an fairly easy victory on the first innings against Queanbeyan with Ashton May leading the way with an unbeaten 113.

The Manuka wicket was a typical Manuka wicket. A bit of life early and then after lunch it would flatten out and be a batmen’s paradise and the reverse, a bowler’s graveyard. Tuggeranong Valley’s captain, Dave Jeffrey, did the expected thing and won the toss and elected to bat. Left arm quick, Ben Oakley did the damage early for Wests dismissing both David Griffith and David Jeffrey to have Tuggeranong 2 for 39. This brought the semi final centurion Ashton May to the crease and together with opener Tom Thornton set about building a solid footing for the Tuggeranong side.

The pair put on 182 runs for the third wicket for Tuggeranong before May was dismissed just short of his second successive century for 90 caught by Ben Oakley off Nathan Lyon. John Evans was next dismissed, stumped off Andrew Jones and the momentum had started to swing again in the match back towards Wests with Tuggeranong 4 for 221. Jason Floros joined Tom Thornton and the pair put on 50 but then both players were dismissed shortly after one another. Shane Devoy was then run out just before stumps but Tuggeranong were still in a strong position of 7 for 291 at stumps.

Day two saw the Tuggeranong Valley tail wag. Keeper Sean Osborne and veteran quick Evan Kellar combined to put on what the side could think was a match winning partnership of 53. Kellar was then dismissed for 22 but Osborne helped by Behrendorff and Perera helped edge Tuggeranong to a total of 367 after Osborne was last out for 47. Tuggeranong would have thought that they were an odds on favourite to win the match. Only Weston Creek in 2006/07 with 458 and Northbourne in 1930/31 with 414 had scored a higher innings in a 1st Grade Final.

Western District started their innings and lost the early wicket of Taylor caught behind for 5 off Ash Perera. Brendan Lyon was next to fall with the score on 53 but seventeen year old Ryan Carters and Joe Cooke steadied the ship for Wests before stumps taking the score to 2 for 128 before time was called on the second day’s play. Carters was unbeaten on 45 and Cooke was on 37.

The final day, Monday, started with both sides sensing they both could go home with the Douglas Cup. Tuggeranong needed 8 wickets while Western Districts had a minimum of 96 overs to score the 240 runs they needed for victory.

Carters and Cooke had put on another 63 runs before Cooke was bowled by future Australian International bowler Jason Behrendorff for 68. The partnership between Carters and Behrendorff was 138 and put Wests in a strong position. Prolific Western District batsman Darren Richards joined Carters and the combination of youth and experience pushed Wests closer to victory. The pair put on 84 runs before Richards was dismissed one short of his half century.

Carters was the rock of the side but he was starting to run out of partners despite Wests being less than 100 runs from their target. Duane Hall joined Carters and they put on 55 before Hall was dismissed for 22 and Wests were 5 for 330, only 38 runs from victory. Oakley came and went caught by May off Perera for Perera’s third wicket of the innings.

Nathan Lyon joined Carters and the two ACT Under 19 players and future first-class players took the score to 359, just 9 runs from victory. Evan Kellar playing in his final match made the breakthrough, clean bowling Lyon for a vital 21, Carters still there on 139. Controversy then occurred when Perera believed that he had Jamie Anderson out caught behind for a duck with the score on 361. The umpired conferred and gave him out leaving Wests 8 for 361, Carters on 141. Captain Andrew Jones came to the crease and the next ball he was given out leg before wicket for a duck, giving Perera two wickets in two balls and his 5th wicket for the innings. This left Western District still six runs away from victory and Tuggeranong just a single wicket away.

Carters faced the next over from Evan Kellar and nicked the ball past keeper Osborne for three. Next number eleven batsman Andrew Appeldorff pushed a single to third man to get Carters back on strike. Then just before 6pm, showing the determination that guided him into the first-class arena, he pushed the ball towards gully where a misfield allowed Carters and Appeldorff to score the winning runs. Carters finished on 146 not out which was his initial first grade century and was awarded the Greg Irvine Medal for the Player of the Match in a close decision over his ACT Under 19 team mate Tom Thornton who on Day One made 141 to put Tuggeranong in a strong position.

The match brought down the careers of veteran players Evan Kellar and Andrew Jones but launched the careers of a number of players. The Tuggeranong side had Tom Thornton go on to play for South Australia, Jason Floros played for Queensland, Ashton May played for Tasmania and Jason Behrendorff continues to play for Western Australia and Australia in the T20 arena. Western District had Ryan Carters who went on to earn a rookie contract shortly after with Victoria and played first-class cricket with them and New South Wales as well as launching the cricket charity Batting for Change. They also had a young Manuka Oval apprentice groundsman named Nathan Lyon went on to play for South Australia before taking a wicket with his first ball in Test Cricket in 2011 and still being a main stay in the Australian Test side closing in on 400 Test Match wickets.

Number Four in the countdown in the greatest Douglas Cup Finals covers the 2018/19 Final between Ginninderra and Weston Creek Molonglo.

No.4 – 2018/19 – 40 Wickets in Two Days and a Club Back from the Brink

From 1992/93 to 2017/18, Ginninderra had only reached the semi finals of the 1st Grade competition once, in 2016/17. In most seasons they finished last or second last and were generally seen as easy beats by most clubs, a first innings win or an outright win was a given for most clubs when they played Ginninderra.

The 2016/17 season was a spark, the club made the semi finals for the first time since 1992/93, which was the last time the club won the Douglas Cup. Although the club lost their semi final that season against Weston Creek Molonglo, a positive vibe was growing around the club. The management of the club had changed, a couple of years earlier the home ground, Kippax Oval, had been redeveloped by the 2018/19 season came around, the drainage issues had been solved which meant the first grade side had a permanent home ground with excellent facilities.

Earlier in the 2018/19 season, Ginninderra had reached the Final of the Twenty20 Cup and from there the momentum swung and a positive vibe swelled around the club. Although the club lost the Final, confidence was high. The first grade side was led by local junior Rhys Healy and a number of junior cricketers had worked their way up to the senior side. The first grade side had a strong pace attack which was the envy of other clubs and in fact were down a fast bowler in Luke Ryan who had injured his knee playing indoor cricket the previous winter.

After making the Finals, Ginninderra were drawn up against powerhouse and reigning premiers Western District. Western District dominated the first day, that was up until the final hour of that day where Wests lost their last five wickets for 22 runs. Despite a middle order stutter, Ginninderra got home with three wickets to spare chasing 252 and they had made their first 1st Grade Final since 1992/93. The talk around the club was to “Bring Dougie Home”. A reference to the 1st Grade Trophy being named the Douglas Cup.

The 1st Grade Final was to be held at Phillip Oval. This was the first 1st Grade Final to be held at Phillip Oval. Cricket ACT had moved their headquarters from Manuka Oval to Phillip Oval and this ground was redeveloped with the assistance of the ACT Government, the ground was to be the second major ground in the ACT.

The Final was against Weston Creek Molonglo who were and still are one of the strongest clubs in ACT Cricket since the early 2000s. Weston Creek Molonglo finished fourth after the preliminary rounds but upset Tuggeranong Valley in their semi final to set up an unusual occurrence of 3 versus 4 in the Final. The start of the match was an anti-climax with the entire first day’s play washed out.

Day 2 saw overcast conditions but the wet weather was held at bay. Ginninderra captain Rhys Healy won the toss and elected to bat. Jordie Misic and Amit Sharma opened the batting for the Tigers and the first wicket was lost when the score was 21 when Jordie Misic was bowled by Djali Bloomfield. Three quick wickets fell soon after, all to Harry Medhurst, and Ginninderra were reduced to 4 for 38. Then there was a strong 68 run partnership between Sharma and Gus Le Lievre which brought the total to 106 before Le Lievre was dismissed. Not long after Sharma was dismissed for an extremely gritty 61 off 133 balls in 195 minutes which ended up being the highest score for the match. Ginninderra were on the verge of being dismissed for a low total until Nick Owen and Jarryd Hatton put on 68 for the 8th wicket with both batsmen contributing 30 and 39 respectively. The last three wickets feel quickly and Ginninderra was dismissed for 193. Harry Medhurst was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 50. The total was seen as a more than defendable total, considering the state of the wicket.

With a strong pace trio in Michael Ninneman, Jarryd Hatton and Jak Willcox, Ginninderra had Creek reeling at 5 for 66 at stumps including the vital wicket of Robbie Trickett for 32 just before stumps.

Day three started well for Weston Creek Molonglo, justifying the confidence that their captain John Rogers had in them. Tom Atallah and night watchman Djali Bloomfield carried the score to 5 for 102 before Atallah was dismissed for 31 caught behind by Josh Watling off Ninnemann. Bloomfield was next dismissed for a stoic 4 off 68 balls in 100 minutes. This started off another collapse and Weston Creek Molonglo were dismissed for 116. Michael Ninnemann was the star bowler with 6 for 54 despite having torn his quad in the semi final the previous week.

Ginninderra had a first innings lead of 77 and to secure their third Douglas Cup title, all they had to do was to bat the day out. The final had another twist in store as the Weston Creek Molonglo bowlers tore through the Ginninderra top order to have them reeling at 4 for 13. A vital 35 run partnership between Misic who made 13 in 91 minutes and Le Lievre who made 36 off 44 balls. Misic was dismissed with the score on 48 and Le Lievre was the 6th wicket to fall on 59 and the lower order limped along until the side was dismissed for 79. Quick, Djali Bloomfield dominated the bowling figures with a wonderful 4 for 31. Creek were set 157 in three hours to win the premiership and to break the hearts of the many Ginninderra supporters which had made their way to the ground to witness history.

The wicket was turning into a minefield and quick Jak Willcox took full advantage of it. Willcox, whose uncle had been part of the last Ginninderra side to win a first grade premiership, took 4 of the first six wickets to fall for Creek in their second innings leaving them at 6 for 18 including the prize wicket of Creek captain John Rogers caught behind for a duck. Ben de Carvalho showed some spirit with 12 but his dismissal saw the team fall to 9 for 38 and heading for a record low score. There was resistance from Aiden Cowie who made 26 off 29 balls batting at number ten but Jak Willcox came back on and quite fittingly took the last wicket to hand the Tigers an outright victory by 85 runs and sending the Ginninderra supporters into rapturous celebrations. Michael Ninneman took another four wickets in the second innings to make it ten for the match and claim man of the match honours.

The club was given further cause for celebration, it was awarded the Australian Premier Cricket Club of the Year by Cricket Australia in May of 2019.

Ginninderra 193 (A Sharma 61, JJ Hatton 39, AL Le Lievre 35, NL Owen 30, HD Medhurst 4-50, DMR Bloomfield 3-58, SR Taylor 2-22) & 79 (AL Le Lievre 36, DMR Bloomfield 4-31, SR Taylor 3-18, HD Medhurst 2-20) defeated outright Weston Creek Molonglo 116 (RW Trickett 32, TG Atallah 31, M Ninneman 6-54, J Hatton 2-25, JM Willcox 2-30) & 71 (AF Cowie 26, JM Willcox 5-11, M Ninneman 4-39) by 85 runs at Phillip Oval on March 22(no play),23,24, 2019.

In the recently completed ACT 1st Grade round on Saturday, Western District’s coach Blake Dean followed up his 180 of 127 balls (which included 20 fours and 8 sixes) by taking 7 for 53 of 24.1 overs in North Canberra-Gungahlin’s 2nd Innings.

By doing this he joined the select band of just 16 players who had previously did this in ACT 1st Grade matches. The feat has occurred 18 times in ACT 1st Grade matches with Lorne Lees and Lisle Maloney achieving the feat on two occasions.

The previous player who achieved this feat was Dean’s teammate Ethan Bartlett who made 141 and took 5 for 31 against Weston Creek Molonglo at Manuka Oval in 2018/19.

In terms of runs scored and wickets taken, it was the highest score and second best bowling figures. The only equivalent achievement was in 1961/62 when Malcolm Wheeler playing for Queanbeyan against Manuka-Yarralumla scored 150 not out and took 7 for 83.

The complete list of those scoring a century and taking 5 wickets in an innings in ACT 1st Grade is below: