Cricket
20 January, 2026
Alexander smashes his way to double century
Nathan Alexander scored a historic double century as West Wimmera comprehensively defeated St Mary’s in round nine of the Horsham Cricket Association A grade competition on Saturday, January 17.
At Davis Park, the Warriors elected to bat first, with skipper Nathan Alexander setting the tone early.
With a half-century already scored when his brother Brad joined him at the crease at 2/105 in the 17th over, the pair built a remarkable 290-run partnership, leading the Warriors to 3/395 after 40 overs.
Nathan was dismissed on the final ball of the innings, finishing with 230 from 126 balls, including 17 fours and 14 sixes.
Brad remained unbeaten on 107 from 75 balls, marking an outstanding achievement for the brothers.
In response, St Mary’s scored 151, with Brodie Dennes top-scoring with 28, and Kael Zanker and Jacob Thomas each contributing 22.
Joshua Lees led the Warriors' bowling performance with 4/15, while Tim Braendler had 2/23.
Nathan Alexander said he felt good early in the innings, admitting his brother being late to the game may have helped him reach the milestone.
“I wasn’t meant to open, but Brad got caught up at work, so I ended up opening the batting instead,” Alexander said.
“I took the first ball and felt pretty comfortable straight away. I got a boundary in the first over, and everything seemed to come off the bat nicely right from the start.”
“Once I got to 100, I went down and spoke with Brad and said, “I might go pretty hard here and see what happens.”
“It was a bit lucky; everything seemed to go my way.”
Alexander admitted it was special to have the extraordinary partnership with his brother, as the duo pushed each other to their respective milestones.
“Near the end, he (Brad) must have worked out I was close to 200, so he was getting plenty of singles, and I finally worked out what he was trying to do,” Alexander said.
“Once I got the 200, he said, “I probably don’t have time to get to 100,” but I said, “Yeah, we do.”
“He got there in the end, which was great.”
Watching from the change rooms, teammate Jeremy Weeks said it was an incredible display of batting.
"I think most the team have seen him make hundreds and everything before, but to see it for such a sustained period like that was pretty impressive," Weeks said.
"To have the two brothers out there like that, and we know how well Brad's been going, the hitting from both, it was just incredible.
At Donald Recreation Reserve, Swifts-Great Western strengthened their position in the top four with a five-wicket victory over Donald Jeffcott.
The home side elected to bat, where they totalled 126 before being bowled out in the 36th over.
Cooper Anderson (25) and Koby Westerland (21) top scored for Donald Jeffcott.
For SGW, Zachary Marrow led the way with 4/29, while Wil Clough (2/18) and Jayden McCartney (2/22) each had two wickets.
In response, Aiden Graveson (35) and Ethan Marrow (28) got SGW off to a strong start before 27 not out from Jacob Dunn helped the visitors reach 5/128 in the 28th over to claim the win.
Thomas Reekie was the pick of the Donald Jeffcott bowlers with figures of 3/36.
At Dudley Cornell Park, the Bullants had a hard-fought victory over the Colts.
The home side elected to bowl against the Bullants, and despite a quick start thanks to a 23-ball 37 from Jason Harris, the Bullants found themselves at 6-88 in the 17th over.
But a crucial partnership between Phoenix Hopper (46) and skipper Tony Caccaviello (36) helped the side to 185 before they were bowled out in the 36th over.
Joey Nagorcka (3/14) and Jay Couch (3/18) led the Colts’ bowling effort.
In response, Dylan Arnott led the Colts with a measured knock of 80, as key partnerships with Logan Millar (25) and Jaxon Crooks (12) kept the side within reach for most of the innings.
But key wickets towards the end of the innings saw the Bullants bowl the Colts out for 148.
Both Caccaviello and Hopper backed up their performances with the bat with figures of 4/24 and 3/21, respectively, while Matthew Combe had 2/26 from his eight overs.
At Murtoa Recreation Reserve, Lubeck Murtoa prevailed in a low-scoring affair against Brim KSH.
The Mudlarks elected to bat and crucial top and middle order knocks from Joshua Hedt (25), Shannon Reddie (12) and skipper Cameron Newell (21 not out) helped the side to 91 against a strong bowling performance from Brim KSH.
Mark McPherson (3/21) and Lachlan McGinniss (3/23) each took three wickets for the Eagles.
In response, Chris McPherson (15) looked to get the Eagles on the front foot, but some impressive bowling from Shannon Reddie and Oliver Garth Lindsay saw the visitors collapse to 9/46.
Fletcher Bright (18) and Sean Wright (6 not out) provided some last-wicket resistance before a Xavier Shevlin wicket saw the Eagles dismissed for 68.
Reddie finished with 4/10, while Garth Lindsay had 4/35 as the Mudlarks won by 23 runs.
At City Oval, the Tigers won the toss and elected to bat against competition leaders Laharum.
Callum Jackson (12) and Martin Jones (12) saw the Tigers through the early overs, but from there, regular wickets disrupted their momentum.
Tyler Neville (15) and David Puls (11) chipped in before the side was dismissed for 61.
Joel Pymer led the way early for the Demons with 3/25, while Chaminda Gamage finished with an incredible 2/1 off eight overs.
Despite the early wicket of Dayan Wilfred in the opening over, Laharum were never in trouble as they reached 1/63 in the 14th over for a nine-wicket victory.
Daniel Griffiths and Monty Wynne were both unbeaten on 40 and 23, respectively, while David Puls had 1/8.
