CITY Colts captain Dan Casey saved his most complete all-round performance of the Bathurst District Cricket Association season for when it mattered most over the weekend.
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In his team’s minor semi-final against Centennials Bulls, Casey backed up his patient knock of 140 by taking 4-17 with the ball.
Despite a powerful resistance from the Bulls’ Mick Curtale (97) Colts went on to claim a 149-run win at George Park 1, booking a meeting with Bathurst City in the preliminary final.
Colts didn’t have everything their own way during their innings on Saturday. Casey arrived at the crease with the score at 4-70, with the match evenly poised.
However, the Colts leader survived the pitch at its most difficult and received plenty of support throughout the order.
Matt Stephen (29), Henry Allen (34) and Craig Hanrahan (29 not out) provided the strongest support – batting at eight, nine and 10 respectively.
Colts claimed the prize scalp of Bulls captain Josh Toole (17) when he was caught at point off Stephen’s bowling, but Curtale instilled hope in his side when he came to the crease at 2-27.
His big-hitting innings – consisting of 16 boundaries – came to a halt when he was caught and bowled by Casey.
“It’s a funny game, cricket. You can put in 100 per cent and still get hit around, or get a duck. But some days that work off and this weekend that’s what happened for me,” Casey said.
“I haven’t been completely confident all year with the bat so to spend that many overs out there was great.
“My knock was well supported by the boys. Everyone else chipped in and that made it a really good team performance. We batted for quite a long time and that left them with only 68 overs to face, so they had to score around five an over.
“When Mick Curtale got going I was still confident that he would give a chance. We did drop him once, and I thought that was the chance that we were going to get, but we took regular wickets at the other end.
“I’d been out there for a while with the bat and I knew where it was difficult to play so I just tried to hit those areas with the ball and hit the seam.”
Casey’s second century of the 2016-17 season was one that meant a lot to him.
“I’d like to dedicate our club’s win to the Clancy family, in honour of Gwen, the mother of club founder Bob Clancy, and grandmother of club members Paul, Dave, Tony and Jeff,” he said.
“On a personal note I would like to dedicate my innings to India Jane Bell Hawkes, on her first birthday.”
