Euroa B Grade starts premiership defence in style

The coloured clothing is out, the cricket bags have been dusted off, and another season of cricket is officially underway. Euroa's B and C Grade sides kicked off their 2026–27 one-day campaigns on Saturday, with the defending B Grade premiers making a winning start and C Grade stepping up to a new competition with an inexperienced and undermanned side. One win, one loss and plenty of stories from the first Saturday of cricket. B Grade – The defending premiers mean business. Euroa B Grade began their Clive Young Shield premiership defence in style, cruising to a nine-wicket victory over Shepparton - Youth Club United Cricket Club (S/YCUCC) at Princess Park in Shepparton. After losing the toss and being sent into the field, the reigning premiers wasted little time getting down to business, knocking over S/YCUCC for just 108 in 31.3 overs. Will Jackson clearly hadn't forgotten how to take wickets over the off-season, producing a brilliant 3/8 from 5.3 overs. Not wanting Will to have all the fun, Ryan Hill joined the wicket-taking party with 3/28 from nine overs, while Josh Robertson (1/23) and Henry Jackson (1/18) also got their names in the wickets column. The fielders weren't about to let the bowlers take all the credit either. The entire B Grade side put in a terrific effort in the field, with Ethan Saxon and Mitch Gleeson particularly impressive, combining their efforts with some sharp run-outs. Nothing gets a team fired up quite like sending a batter back to the pavilion without the bowler even needing to hit the stumps. With 109 required for victory, Euroa's batters had a fairly straightforward assignment: get the runs, avoid any unnecessary drama and start the season with a win. Will Jackson chipped in with 26 before Ethan Saxon took control with an unbeaten 44. Lachie Hill joined him with 27 not out, and the pair made sure there would be no opening-round batting collapse. Euroa finished on 1/109, sealing a comfortable nine-wicket victory and reminding everyone that the defending premiers aren't planning on handing over their crown without a fight. SCORECARD: S/YCUCC 108 (31.3 overs) defeated by Euroa 1/109. Best performers: Batting – Ethan Saxon: An unbeaten 44 to guide Euroa home. No panic, no unnecessary drama, just runs on the board. Bowling – Will Jackson: Three wickets for just eight runs from 5.3 overs. Will made life miserable for the opposition batters and helped set up the victory before adding 26 runs with the bat. Not a bad Saturday's work. Fielding – The whole team, Especially Ethan Saxon and Mitch Gleeson: A fantastic team effort in the field, highlighted by Ethan and Mitch's involvement in the run-outs. Sharp fielding, good teamwork and a reminder that wickets don't always need to come from the bowler. One game, one win, and the premiership defence is officially underway. Next Saturday, B Grade hit the road again for a clash with Pine Lodge at Pine Lodge. Hopefully, the winning habits travel just as well as the cricket bags. C Grade – New Grade, New Challenge, Same Euroa Spirit. Meanwhile, back home at Memorial Oval, Euroa C Grade began their Jim McGregor Shield campaign against Northerners. After competing in D Grade during the 2025–26 season, Euroa have stepped up to C Grade for 2026–27. A new grade, tougher opposition and a fresh challenge. And just to make things interesting, Euroa went into their opening match undermanned and with a relatively inexperienced side. Talk about jumping in at the deep end. The team might have been short on numbers and experience, but there was certainly no shortage of enthusiasm. Batting first, Euroa found runs harder to come by than volunteers for a working bee. Making his senior cricket debut, Tom Goss led the scoring with 15, while Leo Murphy made 13, Oliver Robertson contributed 11 and Patrick Murphy added 10. With several players still finding their feet at this level, building partnerships proved difficult, and Euroa finished on 89 all out from 40 overs. With only 89 runs to defend, the bowlers knew they needed something special. Freddy Hamill was handed the important responsibility of opening the bowling, and he certainly didn't let the occasion get to him. Freddy produced a tidy spell of 0/11 from three overs, keeping things tight and making the Northerners batters work for their runs. Jordan Masters gave Euroa something to cheer about, claiming 1/34 after Leo Murphy held onto a catch. Patrick Murphy wasn't going to let Jordan have all the wicket-taking glory, picking up 1/20 thanks to a catch from Harry Lister. Harry made sure the opportunity didn't go begging, holding onto an important catch to give Euroa another wicket to celebrate. Jack Wilson also enjoyed a brief but economical outing with the ball, conceding just three runs from his one over. Short, sharp and straight back to fielding duties! Despite Euroa's efforts, Northerners reached 2/90 in 14.5 overs to claim an eight-wicket victory. SCORECARD: Euroa 89 all out (40 overs) defeated by Northerners 2/90 (14.5 overs). Best performers: Batting – Tom Goss: What better way to announce yourself in senior cricket than by top-scoring on debut! Tom made 15 in challenging conditions and showed plenty of promise in his first senior appearance. A great effort and hopefully the first of many runs in Euroa colours. Bowling – Freddy Hamill: Opening the bowling is no small responsibility, particularly when defending a total of just 89. Freddy stepped up to the challenge, conceding only 11 runs from his three overs. He might not have picked up a wicket, but his economical spell earned him the bowling honours. Sometimes the best bowling performances aren't measured by wickets. Fielding – Harry Lister: Harry gets the fielding honours for making sure Patrick Murphy's wicket-taking opportunity didn't go to waste. His catch was one of Euroa's two dismissals for the afternoon, proving that even on a tough day, there's always something worth celebrating. While the scoreboard wasn't pretty, there were plenty of positives for a side playing short-handed in a higher grade. The younger and less experienced players gained valuable time in the middle, and everyone who took the field deserves credit for sticking at it. After all, you can't gain experience sitting on the sidelines. Next Saturday, C Grade welcome Mooroopna to Euroa, hopefully with a few more players available and a few more runs on the scoreboard. The match will be played at either Memorial Oval or Friendlies Oval, with the venue to be confirmed later in the week. Hopefully, next Saturday brings a full team sheet, a few more boundaries, plenty of wickets and two wins to celebrate. Bring on Round 2. Go Euroa.