Campbelltown Camden Ghosts cricket club’s five grades produced another weekend of mixed results.
With a lot of young players coming through the ranks it was always going to be a tough summer for the Ghosts.
But while they have suffered many defeats so far this season, the Ghosts have fought hard each time and have not been too far away from reversing the result in a lot of the games they have played.
Which is what happened on the weekend, both in grade cricket and in the T20 competition.
On Sunday, the Ghosts hosted both Northern Districts and Parramatta in rounds 5 and 6 of the Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 Cup.
In the first match, the Ghosts won the toss and sent Northern Districts in to bat first.
The opposition went on to post 7/134 off their 20 overs, with veteran Scott Coyte taking two wickets and the rest shared by the other bowlers.
The run chase didn’t get off to a good start, losing Nick Carruthers before a run was scored.
Losing Coyte with the score on 21 and Ash Paddison when the score was 37 left the Ghosts with a job to do.
A 39 run stand between Jayden Simmons (35) and Aaron Yabsley (29) took the score to 76 before Simmons was dismissed.
The Ghosts lost wickets on a regular basis to finish their 20 overs at 7/112, which was 22 runs short of the target.
In the second game, the Ghosts lost the toss and were asked to bat first.
Opener Nick Carruthers took full advantage of batting first scoring 71 of 54 balls, leading the way as the Ghosts compiled 133 for the loss of seven wickets.
All of the Ghosts batsmen played a supporting role to Carruthers during his 54 ball innings.
Parramatta set about chasing the Ghosts total in a steady fashion, getting there in just under 17 overs for the loss of five wickets.
• On Saturday, the Campbelltown Camden Ghosts first grade travelled to Richmond to take on Hawkesbury at Owen Earle Oval in round 7 of the 2016-17 Sydney Premier Cricket competition.
On a good day for batting, the Ghosts won the toss and elected to take advantage of the conditions.
Openers Aaron Yabsley and Mitch Carruthers got the side off to a positive start, putting on 52 for the opening wicket.
Yabsley was the first Ghosts batsman dismissed while on 23 and this bought skipper Nick Carruthers to the crease alongside brother Mitch.
The Ghosts lost their next two wickets with the score on 66, with both Mitch Carruthers and Scott Coyte being dismissed.
When Jayden Simmons was dismissed two runs later, the Ghosts were left reeling at 4/68.
A small partnership of 30 ensued between Nick Carruthers and Jarrod Collis before Carruthers was out caught with the score at 98.
The Ghosts went on to lose their last five wickets for 22 runs to be all out for 125.
The Hawks then set about chasing the small total set by the Ghosts. As it turned out they only lost one wicket, which was taken by Scott Coyte.
Hawkesbury declared immediately and asked the Ghosts to bat for a second time. They will resume next week on 0/18, with openers Aaron Yabsley and Mitch Carruthers at the crease.
• Men’s cricket was played on Raby 1 for the first time this season when second grade hosted Hawkesbury on Saturday.
The visitors won the toss and sent the Ghosts in to bat first. The Ghosts got off to a steady start but when the top three batsmen, Mitch Hinds (17), Nathan Glynn (25), and Grant Crompton (12) lost their wickets the totsal was only 55.
This brought Jordan Browne and Nick Appleton together, who proceeded to put together an 89 run partnership before Browne was dismissed for a well deserved 50.
A flurry of wickets saw the Ghosts lose batsmen for 27 runs to have them at 7/173. A rearguard 29 run partnership between Nick Appleton and Braedyn Evans (21no) ensued before Appleton was dismissed for a classy 71 in his second grade debut.
The Ghosts were eventually bowled out for 229. This left the Hawks 19 overs to face for the remainder of the day. A wicket first ball to off spinner Jordan Browne set them on the back foot before steadying to be 2/55 at stumps.
• Third grade won the toss and batted at Bensons Lane 2 and were all out by tea for 125. Only opener Nick Mortimer (31) and skipper Michael Strong (30) showed any resistance. The Hawks batted the day out to be 2/166 at stumps.
• At Raby 2, Hawkesbury won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting wicket and set about setting up a big total in fourth grade.
And this looked like it would be the case with the Hawks at 1/117 before the Ghosts bowlers fought back to restrict the opposition to 214.
Young spinners Connor Passlow and Tanveer Sangha took four and three wickets respectively. Jarrod Tripp also took two scalps.
The Ghosts will resume at 0/11 next Saturday.
• At Bensons Lane 3, fifth grade side toiled hard to dismiss the Hawkesbury side for 252. After winning the toss and batting, the opposition compiled a steady flow of runs, however the young Ghosts bowlers managed to take wickets at regular intervals to restrict the score.
Anis Zaidi led the way with four wickets, with Connor Corscadden taking two. Next week the Ghosts will resume at 1/27.
