The 1st XI warmed up for their Term 1 matches with pre-season fixtures in mid-January against three Australian schools.
1st XI Squad v Brisbane Boys College, 12 January
Electing to bat first against Brisbane Boys College looked like the wrong decision when Westlake Boys stood at 52/5. However, Luke Ranson (87) and Sam Collinson (40) put on a magnificent 143 run partnership allowing Westlake Boy’s innings to close on 210/7. Brisbane Boys College replied in an excellent manner and at 160/3 the game looked done and dusted. It took an inspired bowling and fielding spell to apply the necessary pressure and Brisbane wickets then tumbled, with Sam Collinson (3/32), Jacob Waitai (3/34) and Ryan Schierhout (2/32) getting the job done. The game went down to the ‘wire’ with Brisbane only just falling short for a thrilling one run win to Westlake.
1st XI Squad v St Patrick’s College (Brisbane), 13 January
Batting first again, Westlake Boys found themselves in deep trouble at 60/6 against St. Patrick’s College Brisbane. There was to be no heroics this time around, as only Sam Collinson, with a patient 36 showed any resolve. The total of 136 was never going to be enough, but the Westlake boys showed plenty of heart to make sure the game was extended. St Patrick’s eventually scored the winning runs with 6 wickets down.
1st XI v Mentone Grammar (Melbourne), Monday 23 January
Westlake batted first against Mentone Grammar and made 230/6, largely due to some good batting from Jock McKenzie (67) and Ryan Quinn (74). Mentone were looking good at 100/2 but fell apart to be all out for 167. Luke Ranson (3/18) and Jordan Thornton (2/29) were the main wicket takers, as Westlake won by 63 runs.
Season Opener v St. Kentigern College
The 1st XI Cricket 2017 season got underway on Saturday, February 4th as Westlake travelled to face St. Kentigern College. Unfortunately, it was a rough start to the season with Westlake finding themselves in trouble early. With the score at 10/3 it was only Campbell Knowles who showed any resistance, attaining a hard-fought 45. However, without a successful partnership established, Westlake were bowled out in the 45th over for only 130. St. Kentigerns chased down the total in the 42nd over with two wickets lost, inflicting an 8 wicket loss.
