The 2025/26 WDCA cricket season is officially underway, and for Ovens Valley Untied’s A grade side, the first match could hardly have gone better.

The Tigers took to the field at McNamara Reserve to kickstart their campaign against the visiting Beechworth Wanderers, and were able to get the job done with both bat and ball.

Sent in to bat, Ovens Valley posted 185 before their final wicket fell, and managed to knock over all 10 Beechworth batters for just 132 runs.

Opening pair Seamus Phillips and Dylan Bursill made their intentions known, with Phillips cracking a boundary off the first ball of the game.

The duo would find the boundary and run hard, putting 62 runs on the board before Bursill (28 off 33) skied one of Jonathan Carson to Jackson Cull.

The wicket would bring last season’s champion player Geeth Alwis to the crease, and he continued his fine form with the willow on hand.

Alwis would carve 53 from 65 balls, and when Phillips fell for a well-made 37, Alwis motored on, partnering with Joel Jordan (21 off 25) and Nick Impink (16 off 47) before he was stumped.

There were some hiccups in the innings, with three ducks and several lacklustre shots, but overall, skipper Phillips was happy with the final total of 185.

“We were going to bat first if we won the toss, and I knew early doors the ball would come on nicely and as the day wears on, that pitch normally gets a bit lower and slower,” he said.

“Those first 10 overs, the ball came off beautifully for me and Dyl, but with the ball getting softer and older, it got a little bit hard to bat on.

“Geeth came in and did what Geeth does.

“Batting-wise, I thought there was a lot to improve on through the middle order, we probably needed to turn that 190 into a 200+ score, but for the first hit-out of the year, you couldn’t really ask for more.

“It was good to see a few boys get starts, we just need to turn a few of those starts into 60s and 70s, and the batting should start to take shape.”

With a defendable total on the board, the Tigers took ball in hard, eager to make early inroads into the Beechworth line-up.

The breakthrough came in the third over, when English import Joe Monk managed to get one to keep low and smash into the top of Jackson Cull’s off stump without score.

James Neary followed up next over, removing the dangerous Cam Fendyk for just one, trapped LBW by a fuller delivery.

Geeth Alwis would break the building partnership of Will Prebble and Brenton Surrey, trapping Prebble LBW for 15 in his first over.

From then on, it was the Joel Jordan Show – the pacey right-armer picked up 5/29 from his nine overs, targeting the stumps and sending down the heat.

Beechworth’s last hope, Surrey, was dismissed on 63, and from then on, it was only a matter of time before the game was wrapped up.

“We built early pressure on their opening bats and top order, and just made that run rate climb early and kept building pressure, let them make mistakes,” Phillips said.

“It was pretty good from Joel, we hadn’t seen him bowl much.

“He started off a little bit shaky in his first couple of overs, he got a wicket and his confidence just went through the roof and he became almost unplayable in his last few overs, and just ripped through them.”

The Tigers will take this weekend off with the scheduled bye, before returning to take on City Colts on 25 October.

The A reserve squad were also in action, suffering a six-wicket loss to Yarrawonga Mulwala.

The Tigers made 102 runs before being bowled out, with skipper Nathan Cullen starring with an unbeaten 46* from 87 balls, before the Lakers chased the total four down within 15 overs.