All rounders prevail in Illawarra junior cricket

A number of outstanding all round performance dominated the last round of under 14A in Illawarra – South Coast junior cricket last weekend. Corrimal’s T McDevitt had an outstanding all round performance against Albion Park. He took 3 wickets for 4 runs in Albion Park’s first innings of 46 and then backed up by scoring 62 in his team’s 2/148 declared. He was well supported by fellow batsman J Dillon (65 not out) in Corrimal’s tally and bowler M Jones (3/2) in Park’s first innings. D Baldwin for Corrimal took 3/9 in Albion Park’s second innings of 3/35.

In another exceptional all round effort in 14A, Kyle Brockley 54 runs and 3 wickets for 10 runs led Balgownie 188 and 6/56 to defeat Warilla 145 on the first innings. Also in 14A Dapto’s A Coughlan-Ryan took 4/33 in Shellharbour’s first innings of 96 and then scored 38 in Dapto’s winning first innings of 5/133 (B Redman 39). Also on the all rounders’ honour board was Helensburgh’s P Counsell despite his team’s loss to Thirroul. He scored 58 in the Burgh’s first innings of 118 but unfortunately it was just short of Thirroul’s 128. Helensburgh scored 62 in its second innings and then Counsell’s 3 wickets for 1 run had Thirroul 6 for 23 in its second to pick up bonus points for the Burgh.

Dapto scored an impressive outright win against Albion Park in under 16B competition last weekend. Dapto’s W Lucas top scored with 72 in Dapto’s first innings of 2/106. The Park was bowled out for 25 in their first innings followed by an improved 110 in the second. Dapto took the outright victory with 4/30 in their second innings. Best bowlers for Dapto in Albion Park’s first innings were T Driscoll (4/6) and K Doyle (3/7).

In an outstanding bowling performance in 16B, Thirroul White’s L Stewart took 7 wickets for his teams match against Wests. He took 4/20 in Wests first innings of 117 and 3/19 in the second innings of 76. His efforts were not able to be backed up by his team’s batsmen as Thirroul White could only muster 89 in their first and 2/37 in the second to lose on the first innings.

In the 16A grade L A Faughlin 71 and C J Collings 53 were major contributors for Port Kembla in their score of 4 for 271 to defeat Wests Red (147). Also in the runs in 16A was J Chappell (77) for Wests Blue (3/174) in its win over Warilla (125 and 6/82). J McDevitt (73), C Dunn (53 no) and F Ogilvie (50) ensured Corrimal made an imposing score of 6/274 against Albion Park.
For more Illawarra Junior Cricket results go to http://www.cricketnsw.com.au/ijca/
For South Coast junior cricket results and performances go to http://scjca.nsw.cricket.com.au/ 

 No Wollongong Hawks, No Spirit, No NSW basketball team in new NBL?

With the preliminary rounds of the current NBL season now over SportsLive wonders if there will be a NSW based team in the new National Basketball League (NBL).
The Wollongong Hawks and the Sydney Spirit (formerly West Sydney Razorbacks) appear to have celebrated their last games – see reports of last games for the Hawks at www.hawks.com.au and Spirit at http://sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=971. The apparent loss of these teams in the NBL follows the well publicised demise of the Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets before the 2008-09 season began.  

SportsLive wonders how the new NBL is going to get off the ground. The current financial crisis is causing most companies to rein in “discretionary expenditure”. It could be argued that professional sports sponsorship is about marketing, and in the tough economic climate companies should continue to market their products and services to ensure they grab sales even if the overall market is declining. However, there is likely to be an increased focus on marketing dollar impact. We wonder if Australian Basketball needs to follow some of the Football Federation of Australia’s recent developments to raise the sport’s profile and attractiveness to sponsors.

• More free to air coverage though Boomers eg need to qualify through Asia so more meaningful Australian games in Australia  – as per football (soccer)
• More free to air coverage eg at least one game per week and/or significant international and national basketball show like SBS football (soccer) coverage. For example Rugby League has a combination of free to air and pay TV cover.

If sponsors don’t get much exposure their marketing dollars will go elsewhere. Furthermore, the new NBL seems to be raising the financial bar when everyone else is tightening their belts. Does Basketball Australia need to look at a new model to match difficult times? 
It is expected that Wollongong and Illawarra basketball will continue to be represented in the next tier of basketball the Waratah Australian Basketball League (WABL)

Wollongong’s Hurley takes NSW swimming title

In the NSW Swimming Championships held from Friday13th February to Sunday February 15th Wollongong’s Robert Hurley has taken the opening event, the 400m freestyle. 20 year old Hurley improved on his personal best time by 2 seconds to defeat Ryan Napolean and Cameron Smith both from St Peter’s Club in Queensland. Hurley won the race in 3:27.06 by over 2 seconds from 18 year old Napolean. While still in heavy training for the upcoming Australian titles Hurley’s time was still number 5 in the all time best for Australia.

Later on the first night, Hurley (25.70) came 4th in the 50m backstroke final won by his Australian Institute of Sport training partner, Olympian Ashley Delaney (24.88) followed by fellow Olympian Hayden Stoeckel (25.50) and Benjamin Treffers (25.59).

On the second day of meet Hurley came fourth in 200m backstroke behind Delaney, Stoeckel and New Zealand’s C Stanley and 5th in the 200m freestyle won by Kenrick Monk from fellow Olympians Patrick Murphy and Nick Ffrost.

On the third day Hurley came 7th in the 100m butterfly final ahead of Geoff Huegill in his well publicised comeback - the event was won by Andrew Lauterstein. Later on the same night he came third in the 100m backstroke event behind Delaney and Stoeckel.

The NSW Championships are the last major hit out before the Australian Championships in March and therefore attracted a strong field of interstate swimmers and some internationals training in Australia. The Australian Championships also double as the selection trial for the World Swimming Championships in Rome later this year.

Wollongong Hawks Farewell Dinner?

What has been previously publicised as the Hawks end of season awards dinner, now has added significance with the likely demise of the NBL side. The dinner will take place on Friday 20th February from 7pm at the Portofino Function Centre. Bookings are essential via hawks@hawks.com.au or 4229 7722. Tickets are $80 per person.

Best Action Photos Nominations for NBL Basketball

While there is uncertainty about next season for the new NBL it is almost time to celebrate outstanding performances and contributions to the almost complete current season. Sportslive's Basketball Correspondent, Noel Rowsell, has provided three nominations for the Best Basketball Action Photograph (BAP) Award for season 2008-2009.

Photos from Noel Rowsell: Sydney Spirit's Clint Reed, Graeme Dann and Liam Rush

Noel Rowsell’s colleague Marion McNeill has also provided three nominations for the BAP award.

Photos from Marion McNeill: Clint Reed – Steven Weigh, David Gruber and Liam Rush

Past Stories and photos from Noel Rowsell and Marion McNeill including Wollongong Roller Hawks and Illawarra Hawks can be found on SportsLive at http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=288.  Other action photos from the NBL, WNBL, WABL, SL, WNWBL and NWBL can also be viewed at www.photoexcellence.com.au 

More Stories?

For more local sports stories go to www.wollongong.sportslive.com.au         
 
If you want publicity for your sport please contact the SportsLive Director at YourOnlineCommunity office on 4254 0200 or to email click here->