THIS past weekend saw the commencement of the Under-17 Dowling Shield across a number of grounds on Sunday. The competition is well-known as the premier pathway for Victoria’s up-and-coming cricketers, and the competition was back with a bang on the weekend. There were some big wins, close affairs and strong individual performances across the nine matches that took place on Saturday. It was the perfect way to kick off proceedings for the season, with plenty to take from the opening round. The strongest performance arguably came from Geelong, who posted a fairly decent score with bat in hand to start their season in style.

Geelong (3/296) def. Essendon (8/162)

It was a powerful opening round performance from Geelong as the Cats defeated their opponents in Essendon to the tune of 134 runs at Geelong Cricket Ground on Sunday. Given the talent on their roster, the home side were predicted to be one of the competition’s strongest performers this season, and they have done no harm to this at all with this result.

Geelong won the toss and opted to head to the crease first, given it was a warm day and looked to be a batter’s pitch. When opener Kaden Marum was dismissed for just four runs (thanks to a nice ball from Essendon bowler Zac Graham), things looked slightly worrying for the home team. However, it was the partnership between opening batsman Henry Melville and fellow top-order batsman Oliver Peake that proved to be the biggest factor in the result of the match. The two delivered a stunning knock, driving their side to a whopping run total of 296, making life extremely difficult for Essendon. Eventually, the partnership was broken when Peake was dismissed on a total of 114 runs from 142 runs. In what was the strongest batting performance of the round, Melville finished on 142 runs (not out) from just 151 deliveries, setting his side up for a big win if they could dismiss the Essendon batsmen in a short amount of time.

Essendon Bombers headed out to the crease with a tough task ahead of them given the whopping score set by their opponents in the first innings. Unfortunately, none of their batsmen could produce a meaningful score, as the Geelong bowlers dismissed them with ease. Their openers combined for a total of 46 runs in what was a promising start, but when Lucas Cavigan was caught by Micah Robb, it kicked off a chain of wickets that ultimately saw Essendon unable to produce a strong enough total. To top off his day, Peake was also able to claim three wickets in a stunning individual effort with both bat and ball.

Around the grounds now, the Camberwell Magpies were able to hold on for their first win of the season, despite posting a total of just 134. They faced off against Melbourne University, who had plenty of trouble facing the Camberwell bowlers and were unable to reach the required total and were bowled out for just 129 runs in a disappointing start to the year.

Moving to Bill Lawry Oval, Northcote was able to get the job done and chase down the required run total when they faced off against Fitzroy Doncaster on Sunday. The home side won the toss and elected to bat first, but struggled with bat in hand as Northcote bowlers such as Zac Mills (who took four wickets) ripped through their batting order. The set total of 163 was chased down in just 40 overs, as Northcote started their season on a high.

Over at Central Reserve North, Carlton produced a strong performance with bat in hand to take down Richmond when the two sides clashed on Sunday. Richmond batted first and were able to set a strong total of 222, thanks to a knock of 71 runs from batsman Jack Iverson. However, Carlton delivered a strong batting showing, thanks to four players scoring 34 or more runs when at the crease as they cruised to victory.

While Geelong produced a nice innings with the bat to open the season, their score was topped when Footscray defeated the Greenvale Kangaroos at Mervyn G Hughes Oval on Sunday. Footscray headed out to the crease first, and were well-served by a dominant partnership from batsmen Joshua Pace and Mitchell Jamieson. Pace finished with 140 runs (not out too) and Jamieson was dismissed for 128 runs. The pair set their side up for a big total, which finished at 329 runs. As expected, the Kangaroos could not chase this total down.

A strong showing from their opening batsmen set Ringwood up for an opening round win over Dandenong at Russell Lucas Oval on Sunday. Ringwood duo Zac Grech (70 runs) and Archie Flynn (71 runs) combined for a nice total, and made life easy for the batsmen further down the order. Dandenong were able to fight back with bat in hand, but could not chase down the required run total.

Melbourne recorded a dominant win to start their season, taking down St Kilda at CitiPower Centre on Sunday afternoon. There were a number of contributors at the crease for the victors, as they stormed to a total of 243 runs. They then proceeded to rip through the St Kilda batting order, with Thomas Wrigglesworth taking five wickets in a terrific display.

Prahran’s set run total proved to be match-winning as they outlasted Frankston Peninsula when the two teams went head-to-head at Toorak Park on Sunday. The victors won the toss and opted to bat first, producing a total of 247 from their 50-over stint at the crease. Things looked tense when Frankston Peninsula came close to reaching the total, but could not quite reach the required score.

The final match of the round saw Walter Galt Reserve host a low-scoring affair, when Kingston Hawthorn emerging victorious in their clash against Casey-South Melbourne on Sunday. It was a strong bowling performance from both sides, but Kingston Hawthorn proved to be the better team by setting an unreachable total of 161 runs to claim the win.