THE ultimate prize came for Rockingham-Mandurah in the form of a maiden Western Australia Premier Cricket first-grade premiership at the WACA Ground last weekend.
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Sam Whiteman’s unbeaten 113 steered the Mariners to the eight-wicket grand final triumph over southern rivals Fremantle fittingly after telling contributions from Brendon Diamanti and captain Craig Simmons.
At 5.03pm on Sunday when state wicketkeeper Whiteman pierced the narrow gap at cover, the large throng of maroon rose up as one.
It represented 20 years of persistence from the very first Rockingham-Mandurah sides to take their burgeoning steps into the big smoke before a top grade debut in 2000/01.
Simmons, the figurehead of the club, particularly from the broader state cricket community during the club’s infancy, blasted 53 from 56 balls as he and Whiteman put on 115 for the second wicket.
“What a day. We executed with bat, ball, in the field, everything went our way and yeah I’m pretty proud of what the guys achieved this season,” the captain released after an emotion-filled day, surpassing the 6000-run mark for the club in the process of his knock in the grand final.
Coach Mark Atkinson, who delivered on his vision of success for the club in his first season echoed the sentiments of Simmons saying that the key to the title came from an even spread of sources over the full six month season.
“I don’t think we could ever imagine we would be standing here tonight after a wonderful season, a season that we’ve had a really good contribution from everyone here, it’s been fantastic.
“To have three guys in the top ten run scorers of the competition, to have five blokes over 400 runs, to have three guys over 20 wickets it’s been a really good contribution from everyone,” Atkinson told the club’s supporters at Lark Hill on Sunday evening, citing Dane Ugle’s magnificent semi-final winning 158 not-out and his last wicket partnership with Joel Marion as being an example of all hands on deck.
Play finally got underway on Sunday after all of day one was washed away so Fremantle had to push the game along to force a result as the sixth-ranked team up against the minor premier Mariners, who could settle for a draw.
Diamanti struck twice early to put the Port under pressure at 3/27.
The New Zealand all-rounder defied a calf injury sustained in the pulsating one wicket semi final escape against Perth a week earlier, as he undertook a race against time with an icing regime early in the week eventually building up to stretching and strengthening before the final test of bowling on Friday.
Somehow he rattled through 15 overs to keep the run rate down and snare 4/61 as Leon Coombs (1/13) and Marion (1/27) helped out.
Diamanti’s 37 wickets and 429 runs in 2015/16 only tells so much about his contribution to the maiden flag as his professionalism and calm presence have been a beacon for the club’s burgeoning talent to follow.
Fremantle were lead by captain Ashton Turner’s 72, who was dismissed by leg spinner Kyle Gardiner (1/32), just as he tried to up the ante after lunch.
The navy blues, needing 10 wickets, declared at 8/198 after 45 overs.
The Mariners wouldn’t need even 40 of the 60 overs left in play to overhaul the total as Whiteman, a regular fixture in state colours over the past four seasons, used his WACA Ground experience to securely and confidently put Fremantle to the sword.
“It was disappointing to miss out last week in the semi-final and obviously very satisfying to score a hundred but more importantly to hit the winning runs was an awesome feeling,” said the nine season servant of the club, who opened the batting but was unable to wicket keep due to a persistent finger injury that kept him out of the whole Perth Scorchers Big Bash title defence.
The 24-year-old described the win as a “dream come true” and via the cut shot early before exquisite driving between cover and mid off in the second half of his knock, struck 19 boundaries in his 137 ball stay.
He paired with Mitch Green (25) to put on 73 for the opening stand before sharing the winning moment with close mate Brayden Sutton (two not out).
The triumph is vindication for the forefathers of the club who could see that Peel cricket had plenty to offer as Rockingham Cricket Club took the initial tentative steps to becoming Rockingham-Mandurah District Cricket Club, 20 years ago.
This is born out of the fact that nine of the winning 11 have played their cricket in WA Premier competition, exclusively as Mariners, while all but Diamanti are products of the Peel Junior Cricket Association.
It is also evident as the club claimed its’ third Under 15 flag in four years with the washout on Saturday giving it the premiership against Wanneroo due to a higher qualifying placing.
The club has seen Jordan Clark and Damien Burrage earn National Under 16 representation after fine WA Under 15 campaigns, while continuing to see Under 17 talent filter up into meaningful senior grade contributors.
A blend of experience as well as covering off on all bases in terms of batting and bowling types means this, coupled with a strong junior presence, bodes well for a rosy future at Rockingham-Mandurah.
