02/02/2026
🏆GDSC Easts Cricket Club Senior Weekly Wrap Up – 01/02/2026
On Saturday afternoon, 31st January 2026, the three senior GDSC Easts teams produced a variety of results in their respective matches.
The 1st Grade side commenced the first day of their two-day fixture against Lawrence, spending the afternoon fielding, while both 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade took on teams from Tucabia Copmanhurst cricket club. 2nd Grade secured a convincing win, but 3rd Grade unfortunately suffered a loss.
🥇Weekend Highlights
The weekend was highlighted by three standout individual performances: James Watters notched up a century in 2nd Grade, while Shannon Connor (1st Grade) and William Palmer (2nd Grade) each claimed a five-wicket haul.
🏏1st Grade – Match Report
On Saturday, 31st January 2026, the GDSC Easts Rob Care’s & Support Team played off against Lawrence in Round 12 of the CRCA Competition, the two-day game taking place at Ellem Oval.
Following a loss to Iluka in their previous two-day encounter, the GDSC Easts side was forced to make several changes, with Andrew Kinnane and Theo Lobsey unavailable and replaced by Tom Gerrard and Sam Palmer.
Lawrence won the toss and chose to bat, with Shannon Connor and Gus Lobsey opening the bowling attack. Shannon struck early in the 5th over, bowling Darby Rouse for 7, leaving Lawrence at 1 for 13.
After Gus Lobsey’s initial six-over spell, he was replaced, with Lawrence’s batters relieved to see him off.
By the 14th over, Lawrence had cautiously moved to 1 for 21.
Max Forwell joined Shannon in the attack, and together they made the batters fight for their runs.
On the final ball of the 21st over, Shannon had Hamish Pearce (5) caught by Blake Nelson, reducing Lawrence to 2 for 40.
On the first ball of his next over, Shannon claimed the big wicket of Nathan Ensbey for a golden duck, caught by Sam Palmer, with Lawrence now 3 for 42 and Shannon on a hat-trick.
The hat-trick eluded him, but Shannon’s persistence paid off again at the end of his 16th consecutive over, dismissing Sam Ensbey (5), caught by Tom Gerrard. Lawrence stood at 4 for 56 after 31 overs.
As the afternoon heat intensified, wickets became harder to come by, and Lawrence’s batters, Mark Ensbey (opening) and Charlie Rouse, forged a solid 62-run partnership for the 5th wicket.
The partnership was broken when Shannon claimed his fifth wicket in the 26th over, trapping Mark Ensbey (55) LBW, making it 5 for 118 in the 51st over.
In the following over, David Bruton-Duroux had Charlie Rouse (35) stumped thanks to sharp work by John Martin, bringing Lawrence to 6 for 118 after 52 overs.
Just as it seemed GDSC Easts might wrap up the innings, Doug Harris arrived at the crease and shifted the momentum.
By the end of the 57th over, Shannon had bowled his 29th consecutive over, conceding 12 runs in that final over before the ball was prized from his hand.
Shannon finished with outstanding figures of 5/62 from 29 overs, including 10 maidens and an economy rate of 2.13.
Gus Lobsey and Luke Hayman took over bowling duties, with Gus removing Jordan Gallagher (3) in the next over, leaving Lawrence at 7/132 after 58 overs.
Nathan Williams, batting at number 9, partnered Doug Harris, and together they put the tired GDSC Easts bowlers and fielders under pressure.
The duo added a valuable 73-run partnership across 19 overs, ending in the 77th over when Max Forwell bowled Harris for 55, with 30 of his runs coming from boundaries.
Lawrence reached 8/205 at that point.
By the conclusion of the 80th over, Lawrence had posted 8/216 with Nathan Williams (27*) and Jack Cheney (7*) unbeaten at the crease.
Among the GDSC Easts bowlers, aside from Shannon’s efforts, Gus Lobsey finished with 1/12 from 14 overs, Max Forwell 1/28 from 6, David Bruton-Duroux 1/48 from 12, Luke Hayman 0/20 off 9, Elijah Waite 0/22 off 6, and Matthew Lobsey 0/14 off 4.
Next week, attention will turn to the GDSC Easts batters to chase down the target and secure the lollies.
🏏2nd Grade – Match Report
Needing a win to cement their hold on 4th place on the ladder, the GDSC Easts Clarence Valley Sheds Team put on a commanding performance on Saturday afternoon, 31st January 2026, defeating the Tucabia Copmanhurst side by 116 runs in Round 13 of the CRCA 2nd Grade Competition.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat on the JJ Lawrence turf, openers Reece Easterbrook and David Lollback got the team off to their usual poor start when Easterbrook was caught out in the first over leaving the side 1 for 4.
This brought James (Jimmy) Watters to the crease, and he quickly found his rhythm alongside Lollback.
The pair combined for a superb 145-run partnership for the second wicket, which ended in the 28th over when Lollback was caught by Matthew Summers off Jesse Piper’s bowling for 52 runs (87 balls, 3 fours).
GDSC Easts were 2/149 at that point.
William Palmer joined Watters, and together they took the score to 174, with Watters reaching his century with a four in the 30th over.
In the following over, Palmer (3) was caught by Addison Brown off Daniel Moar’s bowling. Two balls later, Moar claimed another wicket, dismissing the designated big hitter Jeff Rainbow (0), when he misfired and was caught by Jordan Piper.
GDSC Easts were now 4/174.
Ryan Gillet, batting at number 6, shared a 28-run partnership with Watters until the 36th over when Addison Brown had Watters caught by Pippa Brown.
Watters’ innings was outstanding, scoring 124 runs from 102 balls, including 19 fours and a six.
By the 40th over, GDSC Easts had reached 6/226, with Ryan Gillett (22), Michael Cooper (7*) and David Clark (3*) not out.
For Tucabia Copmanhurst, nine bowlers were used.
Notable bowling figures included Addison Brown (2/43 off eight), Daniel Moar (2/26 off 6), Brodie Henderson (1/40 off eight), and Jesse Piper (1/20 off 5).
Six fielders contributed catches during the match.
In reply, Tucabia Copmanhurst’s batters struggled to build partnerships, except for a 33-run stand between Ethan Biele (eight) and top scorer Matthew Brown (53) for the second wicket, and a late 29-run partnership between Jordan Piper (7) and Brodie Henderson (21*).
By the 34th over, the side was all out for 110.
The best of the GDSC Easts bowlers was William Palmer, who finished with 5/20 from just 5.5 overs, and Jeff Rainbow, who claimed 3/27 from eight overs.
🏏3rd Grade – Match Report
On Saturday afternoon, 31st January 2026, the GDSC Easts Archie’s Chicken Team travelled to Brushgrove to face the Tucabia Copmanhurst B&S Kitchen Team.
Throughout the week, the 3rd Grade side experienced the usual player movement, with some players moving up a grade to fill gaps. However, by Saturday, the team had a full complement of 11 players.
Unfortunately, victory eluded the struggling side as they went down by 10 wickets to a strong team sitting 4th on the ladder.
Tucabia Copmanhurst won the toss and sent GDSC Easts in to bat in their 11th Round CRCA 3rd Grade competition match, which features eight teams.
After their allotted 30 overs, GDSC Easts managed 73 runs for the loss of nine wickets, with Noah Rainbow top-scoring with 24 runs.
For Tucabia Copmanhurst, the bowling honours were shared: Shame Humpherys (3/9 off 5), Joseph Lloyd (2/8 off 5), Henry McGrath (1/16 off 5), William Cootes (1/12 off 5), and Hayden Ryder (1/6 off 2).
Five fielders took catches: Shane Humpherys, Hayden Ryder, Jason O’Hara, Barton McGrath, and Jesses Brotherson, with William Cootes and Henry McGrath involved in a run out.
During the run chase, the Tucabia Copmanhurst batters achieved the required total in just 12 overs, scoring 74 runs without losing a wicket.
The bulk of the runs came from Jesses Brotherson (37*, retired not out) and Jason O’Hara (32*, not out).
Video showing James Watters leaving the field after his dismissal.
