Peter Mead experienced the rollercoaster nature that cricket can be as the Tamworth over-50s made it two-from-two in this season's Doug Walters Cup.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
After being unluckily run out for one - the ball deflecting off the bowler into the stumps - the allrounder then came out and nabbed five wickets to spearhead the Magpies to a 123 run win over Mid North Coast at No.1 Oval on Sunday.
It cemented them at the top of the table with one game remaining against North Coast at Port Macquarie on February 12.
The second game in-a-row they have posted in excess of 200, the most pleasing part for captain Steve Wilson was the way the lower order really stepped up when they needed them to.
Batting first, Chris Paterson (41ret) and Jason Bowler (35) got them off to a strong start, putting on 80 for the first wicket in 16 overs.
But the middle order failed to fire as they fell to 5-109.
"Then Ian Hobson, who was playing his first game for us, and Paul Lawrence had a pretty good partnership," captain Steve Wilson said.
Hobson made 35 and Lawrence 40 (ret) to get them back on track before some handy contributions from the tail saw them finish with 8-224. They scored in pretty quick time, taking 93 runs off the last 10 overs.
Hobson is one of a couple of new faces that have come into the side since Christmas, and Wilson said it was good to see what he can do ahead of next month's state championships.
"It was a good test of the depth of our batting," Wilson said.
"Usually the top six have been scoring consistently."
He said it was good for the lower order to be able to finish off what Paterson and Bowler started, especially looking towards the state carnival, where they will play in Division 1.
"That will be a critical thing when we go to Newcastle, knowing that we've got the batting depth all the way right down the order," Wilson said.
They then quickly applied the pressure with the ball and never relented, with Mead coming on at first change and claiming 5-11 as they rolled Mudskippers for just 101.
"Meady bowled really well," he said.
Backing up from his 26 with the bat, Phil Constable also chimed in with 2-26 while Andrew O'Halloran snagged 2-23.
Dean Thompson also impressed on debut. Taking the new ball with Bowler, he kept things tight in the first 10 overs, Wilson said.
