November 30, 2023
Locally owned and independent
The Northern Rivers Times
SPORT NEWS 55
!"#$%&#'"(%)*+%,-+.%&#((-/"%012$) By Tim Howard In a month where Aussie cricketers from internationals to third graders have stunned the world, Harwood’s Dean Carroll’s has added his name to the list. Carroll, coming in at No. 3 against Maclean United, smashed 260 not out out of his team’s total of 4/319 n 40 overs. Carroll clubbed 18 sixes and 26 fours to notch 212 of his runs in boundaries. And according to team mates, did not offer a chance during his innings. Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell, at the ICC World Cup, have attracted most of the cricketing headlines in the past month, but even they have been forced to share the limelight. Just a few weeks ago Gold Coast third grader Gareth Morgan hit the headlines with his incredible bowling effort. Captaining Mudgeeraba against Surfers Paradise, his team needed six wickets and was five runs from defeat when the
skipper brought himself on to bowl. Six balls and six wickets later he had turned a heavy loss into a miracle win and created a sports story that went around the world. Carroll’s effort last Saturday began in a similar low-key fashion. “We’re a fairly young team and a couple of the older players were away for this game,” said Carroll, the team captain. “We were playing Maclean’s first grade side, so I thought it might be good if I could stick around. “I thought if we could play pretty steady and not lose too many wickets in the first 20 overs we could set it up from there.” Carroll’s two sons also play in the team and the eldest, Max, opened the innings. Things went nearly to script. Campbell Kelly opened the blowing for Maclean and started with a maiden. But things went down hill for the bowlers midway through Kelly’s second over when
he bowled the young Carroll, bringing dad to the crease. Maclean’s attack got a glimpse of what was to come in the sixth over, Kelly’s third, when Carroll got off the mark with a four. A two followed and then another boundary. For the next 34 overs the carnage erupted, and the bowling figures reflect it. Kelly’s respectable 1/15 from four overs became 1/49 from eight, but he was not the worst. Brady Walker had 1/3 from two overs and finished with 1/84 from eight. James Micallef found bowling no laughing matter, as his seventh
over went for 29 and he finished with 0/71 from his eight. And Michael Essex floated down five overs that went for 50. Glenn Armer, with 2/32 from seven overs, provided the only relief for the fielders, although with 13 coming from his final over, he may have escaped lightly. Carroll said he could still barely believe the innings happened, even several days later. “They were coming off pretty well,” he said. “It was just luck for me they were hitting the middle and bad luck for the bowlers that I wasn’t missing them. It doesn’t happen that way all the time.
Doing a Glen Maxwell, Harwood’s Dean Carroll blasts one of his 26 fours and 18 sixes on the way to 260no against Maclean on November 18.
“I don’t know how I did it, I normally lose my way, but on Saturday they just kept coming out.” Carroll said he thought he might have given a slight chance in his innings. “There was one I edged down past the stumps, but that was about the only chance,” he said. Carroll’s cricket career has been stop start. “I played cricket as a junior in Queensland, but didn’t play after that until I came to work at Maclean,” he said. Well into his 40s, his ability shone through and he quickly moved through the grades until he found himself playing in Harwood’s premier league team, where he was the leading wicket taker last season. “I decided I would go back to seconds so I could have a game with my two boys, Max and Sam,” he said. “Cricket’s a good sport and it’s good for their character development.” Carroll likes to keep his celebrations low key. “We had a few beers after the game and that
was about it,” he said. “Mum summed it up best for me when she heard my score. “She said ‘you mustn’t have given anyone else a bat’, and that was about it.” And he said even a few days after the game, he was still stiff and sore, although he said it might have been swinging at the 123 balls he faced rather than the minimal running he did. “These days I pull up sore after every game,” he said. It might also have been the 40 overs of wicketkeeping he did when Harwood took the field. Harwood needed his runs as Maclean reached a more than respectable 8/222 from their 40 overs, keeping their losing margin to double figures – just. And Essex managed to restore some balance to his personal ledger, finishing 37 not out from 15 balls, with three fours and three sixes, coming in at number 11. If only he’d gone in earlier.
SPEEDWAY Results Saturday, November 25, 2023. GRAFTON RSA Street Stockers. Heat 1: Cameron Nottage 1, Glen Sturrock 2, Toby Hunter 3. Heat 2: Connor Reeves 1, Nathan Diews 2, Kaleb Daly 3. Heat 3: Jakob Lesha 1, Greg Dickinson 2, Kaleb Daly 3. Heat 4: Connor Reeves 1, Cameron Nottage 2, Adam Grill 3. Heat 5: Tayler Lofthouse 1, Kaleb Daly 2, Gavin Wade 3. Heat 6: Dallas Barnier 1, Connor Reeves 2, Toby Hunter
5: Aaron Hall 1, Geoff Hayes 2, Clay Forster 3. Heat 6: Mason Cattell 1, Demi Clarke 2, Sam Mooney 3. Feature: Aaron Hall 1, Dale Corbett 2, Geoff Hayes 3. V8 Dirt Modifieds. Heat 1: Seiton Young 1, Chris Corbett 2, Brock Armstrong 3. Heat 2: David Clark (lap record) 1, Joshua Rose 2, Kevin
Stow 3. Heat 3: Luke Dunn 1, Chris Corbett 2, David Clark 3. Heat 4: Trent Scofield 1, Kyle Armstrong 2, Taylah Firth 3. Feature: Chris Corbett 1, David Clark 2, Trent Scofield 3. SSA Junior Sedans New Stars. Feature: Lawson Clarke 1, Marcus Moore 2, Jake Synnott 3.
Connor Reeves (centre), winner of the Northern Rivers Rumble Series round at Grafton Speedway on Saturday night. Kaleb Daly (right) finished second and Tayler Lofthouse (left) was third. Photo: Tony Powell Speedway Photos.
Pictured is David Clark (front of picture) lined up with Chris Corbett (rear of photo) at the start of the Pole Shuffle for the V8 Dirt Modifieds feature race at Grafton Speedway on Saturday night. Photo: Tony Powell Speedway Photos.
3. Feature: Connor Reeves 1, Kaleb Daly 2, Tayler Lofthouse 3. RSA 4 Cylinders. Heat 1: Nathan Harper 1, Jeremy Wade 2, Dallas Barnier 3. Heat 2: Dallas Barnier 1, Jeremy Wade 2, Nathan Harper 3. Heat 3: Jeremy Wade 1, Nathan Harper 2, Dallas Rose 3. Feature: Jeremy Wade 1, Dallas Rose 2, Nathan Harper 3. AMCA Nationals (Sponsored by Team Ron Pyne and Andy Wilcox). Heat 1: Russ Hardy 1, Tony Blanch 2, Graeme
Holland 3. Heat 2: Graeme Holland 1, Steve Potts 2, Matt Hardy 3. Heat 3: Tony Blanch 1, Jai Jones 2, Matt Hardy 3. Feature: Tony Blanch 1, Russ Hardy 2, Matt Hardy 3. SSA Production Sedans. Heat 1: Aaron Hall 1, Geoff Hayes 2, Clay Forster 3. Heat 2: Sam Mooney 1, Demi Clarke 2, Mason Cattell 3. Heat 3: Geoff Hayes 1, Aaron Hall 2, Clay Forster 3. Heat 4: Dale Corbett 1, Demi Clarke 2, Mason Cattell 3. Heat
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