Sandgroper Cricket

The wait is over… registrations for the 2026 Spot On Hose & Fittings Spirit of Cricket Festivale Player Draft are now officially OPEN.

Following another huge season, eight teams will once again battle it out in Mildura across one of the most exciting tournaments on the global masters cricket calendar.

If you want to be part of Season 3, now is the time to nominate.
Teams competing in 2026:

• EV2
• Lightning Storm
• Phoenix Firebirds
• RJR All Stars
• Sandgropers
• Saxon Kings
• Tara Taverners
• Territory Blasters

Important Dates:
• Nominations Close: 23 May 2026
• LIVE Draft Night: 8 June 2026
• Tournament Dates: 24–29 September 2026

Player Eligibility:
Players must turn 50 by 31 December 2026 to nominate.
The Spirit of Cricket Festival continues to grow each year with elite T20 cricket, live streaming, professional commentary, fantastic camaraderie and an unforgettable tournament experience both on and off the field.

Spots are limited and player demand is expected to be high again this year, so don’t leave your nomination too late.

REGISTER NOW:
https://www.spiritofcricket.com.au/australasia-draft-nomination-2026

Further tournament information can also be found at the above link.

Well unfortunately the Gropers haven’t gotten through to the Grand Final and were beaten by a better side on the day in the RJR All Stars whom we had beaten comprehensively a few days earlier .

We restricted them to 151 which we thought was a few more than we would have liked but thought we had the cattle to get the job done..

Unfortunately we got bogged down after Barranca and Jamie Lee got out and Ben Warren probably chewed up too many balls and it put too much pressure on the middle order who had to hit out as the run rate was already up around 8 and most had barely batted all week as Jamie and Fuzz had batted so well and carried their bats in two games. The have had outstanding tournaments and are likely to make the team of the tournament.

Hammer who had an outstanding tournament and is also an outside chance of making the team the tournament is a bit down on himself as he also went the journey off his four and Buddha bowled the best he has bowled all week but probably a tournament he’d like to forget but won our man of the match for his three for.

Lots of improvement over how we went last year having gone from 7th to 3rd and here’s hoping we can jump a few more cogs up the ladder next year.

Really proud of the team and efforts of all as a squad everyone contributed both on and off the field …. We are building something special and will take feedback from the squad and look to continually improve and get better in 2026.

Onward and upward Gropers and a great tournament considering we lost the first two games and still made top three.

Man of the match : J Budalich

The live feed for today semi final against RJR All stars is below… cmon the Gropers let’s get to the big dance

RJR All Sports v Sandgropers Global T20 Spirit of Cricket FestivaleLive from Mildura Sporting Precinct & Wentworth

SEMI FINAL SIDE SELECTIONS

The selectors have had some super tough calls to make in the last few days as the momentum has been building and everyone is doing their job.

Only one minor change for the Semi Final which will be likely reversed for the GF if the boys can get there as part of managing "Uncle Mike".

IN
Zani

OUT
Veletta

MATCH REPORT - ROUND 7 v LIGHTNING STORM

The team was under a fair bit of pressure going into the last Round as results overnight had not gone as expected and therefore the Sandgropers really needed to win both Round 6 and 7 games to guarantee making the finals with the Saxon Kings coming home strong and likely to finish ahead of us if we didn't control our own destiny.

The selectors had a really tough time on Sunday night and early on Monday morning trying to pick the right sides for both games whilst also maximising our squad and players in terms of fielding and managing a few sore players through to the penultimate game before semi finals.

We were lucky enough to score a great win in the morning and it all came down to the this last game under lights at a ground that we were not familiar with but which we knew would take some turn and off pace was the way to go.

For the first time in the tournament Chief lost the toss (6-1) but surprisingly the opposition elected to bat which is what we would have doe in any event as we didn't want to bat under the difficult conditions as the lights first come on.

The Lightning storm got off to a solid start before losing Khawaja for 13 with the score at 1-30 in the 6th over to a great run out by the bowler David Newham.

Grant then came in and almost immediately walked past the first delivery of Budalich to be stumped and they were then 2-49 as Booley, the other opener, was batting quite well on a difficult wicket.

Stephen Gollan opened the bowling with Newham and had an excellent spell of 4 overs for only 17 runs and Newham finished with 0-29 from his 4 before Jamie Lee really put the screws on and he took the valuable wicket of Booley and they fell to 3-63 in the 13th over and the Storm looked to be limping to a total that would be sub 120 when probably a 140 or higher would likely be needed on this track given other scores on the ground in the week.

Jamie finished with the impressive figures of 2-11 off his 4 and Buddha finished with 1-25 off his four before Hamling and Nicholls came on to bring it home and Hamling again was economical and took valuable wickets and finished with 2-13 off 2 and Nicholls finished with 0-14 off his two.

The pick of hte bats was Dew who finished not out on 40 off 37 and they finished on 115 for their 20 overs.

As has pretty much been the case all week which we hope wont hurt us in the finals our openers again set the tone and put on a 102 run partnership before Barranca was given out lbw for 45 off 46 in the 15th over with only 13 runs required for victory. I know Fuzz was disappointed to get out and not go through to the end but it was a great knock.

Ben Warren then found the conditions a little tough and was out for 1 off 9 deliveries before Jamie and Gerard Wyeth brought it home in the 18th over and Jamie finished unbeaten on 56 off 49 balls and Gerard finished not out on 1 for a comprehensive victory.

The victory secured us third place on the table and a spot in the semi final tomorrow against the RJR All Stars whom we played in the morning and whom we beat comfortably but we know that finals is a different story.

Man of the Match was Jamie Lee for some powerful batting on a difficult wicket and Jason Hamling was given the spirit of cricket award.

The Sandgropers are celebrating making the finals at the Sandgroper Courtyard