It's been a while since Eastern Suburbs skipper Andrew Vickery has been in the match of the round.
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Just as long since his team took all 10 opposition wickets in a match and he was able to say with a smile on his face that cricket’s “great fun”.
But after a comprehensive win against Northern Suburbs in the opening round of the Maitland first grade cricket season, things are looking a lot more positive for the Griffins.
The Griffins take on last year’s minor premiers City United in round two’s one-day fixture at East Maitland Park on Saturday.
“There’s certainly a buzz around the place,” Vickery said this week of round one’s nine-wicket win against Northern Suburbs.
“That was great fun. There’s no other way to describe it.
“We didn’t get all 10 wickets in a match once last year. It’s a nice way to start the season.”
The Griffins will be without round-one hero Matthew Magann who opened the bowling and then batted at No.3 and smashed the talented Northern Suburbs bowling line-up to all parts of the ground on the way to score 85 from 92 balls.
Magann and Jack Stoneman steered the Griffins past Norths total of 186 with 11 overs to spare.
“Norths have probably the best attack in the competition and Matt and Jack dealt with them with ease,” Vickery said.
“It’s round one and we are not going to get carried away, but it’s nice to start with a win.”
Trent Park is also not available this week, with Lachlan Pannowitz and Joshua Hicks coming into the starting 11.
City United also started the season blazing dismissing last year’s premiers Western Suburbs for 199 with Ben Davies (3-56), Blake Chandler (3-50) and Ryan Merrick (2-6) the main wicket takers.
City skipper Matt Trappel and Karl Bowd then dominated the Plovers bowling attack scoring 87 and 70 respectively.
Trappel took full advantage of a fast Robins Oval outfield to score 19 fours in his innings, while Bowd found the boundary 11 times and cleared it once.
Wests will aim to bounce back when they face fellow round-one loser Thornton Park at Coronation Oval.
Thornton Park lost a closely-fought game against Kurri Weston with Daniel Willis top scoring with 41 for Thorton and Ricky Mace grabbing 4-29 from his 10 overs.
Kurri Weston followed skipper Michael Heinrich’s mantra of all 11 players needing to make a contribution and will be tested on the road to Raymond Terrace, who have been boosted by the return of Jaymes Thomas to the line-up this year.
