Congratulations to the U12 Bellingen Cricket team for claiming the 2025 Cricket Championship!
Having been undefeated since the end of last year, Bellingen finished top of the table of 12 teams and progressed to the semi-final against a strong Nana Glen team. An absolute nail biter of a game saw the semi-final come down to the last ball, with Bellingens 4 run victory meaning that they progressed to the Grand Final against Coffs Harbour Diggers Red.
The teams had met twice before in the season and had each claimed a win, making the final showdown even more mouthwatering, and with Diggers Red boasting the competitions best player in all-rounder Jenn Martin the Bellingen team knew they were in for a tough battle.
Diggers Red won the toss and sent Bellingen in to bat. Lev Morris opened with captain Kai Hartley and put together an important opening stand before a rampaging Harry Kelly came in to push the score, along with strong partnerships with Kai and Sterling Lewis. The latter half of the innings saw some excellent bowling from Jenn Martin pressured the batters, with Emile Simmonds helping hold the innings together before Harry returned from his earlier retirement to add some more lofty blows to push the score up to an impressive 7-90 on a wet and heavy field. A trademark of the team innings was excellent aggressive running from all the batsmen, which was especially important in the difficult conditions.
The second innings saw a solid start by both teams until Daniel Gafen came on and bowled a great wicket maiden. This brought Diggers Reds’ two best batters together, and they began to put together a worrying partnership for the Bellingen side until Levs first overturned the game on its head, with Lev bowling one batter and Kai sensationally running out the other batter with a direct hit from the outfield. From there, tight bowling from all the bowlers began to build the pressure, with Jarrah Hartley and Sterling bowling maidens and further wickets being claimed by Toby Glyde & Eligh George. To cap off a very impressive team fielding display, a direct hit run out from Eligh with one stump to aim at caused the last wicket to fall and saw Bellingen lift the Championship Shield.