Upper Great Southern Cricket Association lose final three games to finish fourth at senior country week

Upper Great Southern Cricket Association fell short in their bid to win their first Boan Cup title since 2017, losing to Albany and Districts in the semifinals last Thursday in Perth. After missing out on playing in the final, Uppers finished fourth in the A-section of senior country week. Uppers’ first XI were second in their division after three qualifying games but went down to Albany and Districts, who were top of the gold division in a high-scoring semi, to end their hopes of winning the Boan Cup. With a final berth on the line Uppers were unable to chase down 224 for victory on Thursday as spinner Ryan Kinnear ripped through their batting line-up with an eight-wicket haul. Kinnear claimed the impressive figures of 8-55 to guide Albany into the final. Kalan Joyce and Nick Corner got their side off to a great start with a patient 61-run partnership, but from then on they lost constant wickets. Joyce was bowled for 30 and Corner soon followed, stumped for 21, and when Dylan Kirk was caught they fell to 3-61. Tom Blechynden and Rodney Ford added 38 together but Blechynden fell for 17 and Uppers were in all sorts of trouble at 7-137 when Perrin Quartermaine was dismissed. A fighting half-century from captain Ford wasn’t enough as his side were bowled out for 173 in the 57th over. Ford top-scored with 63 from 68 balls, which included two fours and three sixes. Albany posted 7-223 batting first on the back of an important century from star all-rounder Nathan Crudeli. Albany were in serious trouble at 5-38, but Crudeli smashed an unbeaten 109 from 122 balls to rescue the innings and shared in two valuable partnerships to get his team above 200. Crudeli and Aidan Dallimore (21) added 72 runs before Nathan Dovey (35) and Crudeli shared in an 80-run stand. Uppers lost to Geraldton on Friday in their third and fourth play-off fixture. A brilliant half-century from Matt Trevenen guided Uppers to 8-154 in the Twenty20 clash. Trevenen smashed 77 from 66 balls and Blechynden added 24. In reply, Geraldton passed the total in the final over, with four wickets in hand. Joyce (2-19) and Kirk (2-23) were the multiple wicket-takers. On Wednesday, Uppers lost to eventual winners Peel by 28 runs. Ford was the third-highest run scorer in A-section with 259 at an average of 51.8 that included a brilliant 162 on the opening day. Grady Francis was the second-highest wicket-taker in the division with 15 scalps at 10.4.