Bayswater-Morley has suffered dual defeats in a frustrating week-end of WACA First-Grade District cricket.  On Saturday the Bears travelled to Abbett Park to tackle high flyers Scarborough in a vital one-day pennant fixture.  When the home team decided to bat first they were rocked by a devastating spell of eight overs by Bayswater fast bowler Kim Lawrence which produced six wickets at a personal cost of 25 runs and with the scoreboard showing 7/40 the innings seemed to be heading for disaster.

But, remarkably, when Lawrence was removed from the attack, wicketkeeper Michael Johnson and all-rounder Ty Hopes came together for a 120 run partnership to resurrect the situation.  Johnson scored 61 and man-of-the-match Hopes was unbeaten on 70 when the innings closed at a defendable 9/191.  Lawrence finished with 6/46 and Mathew Inness with 2/41 and Michael Thistle with 1/32 were the other wicket-takers.

In reply Bayswater were never able to get ahead of the required run-rate and lost wickets at regular intervals. There was no collapse but no significant partnerships were established and only youngsters Rob Morgan and Cameron Robb, who each scored 33, made any impression and the Bears fell 12 runs short of the target after their allotted 50 overs.  With only three pennant rounds remaining, Bayswater will now need to defeat Joondalup, Rockingham-Mandurah, and probably Fremantle, to ensure a place in the final six.

On Sunday Bayswater met Fremantle in a cut-throat WACA Sunday League quarter-final at Stevens Reserve.  The match was almost a mirror image of the previous day with Fremantle batting first and tottering at 7/90 before the half-way mark.  But, once again the home team recovered composure to graft their way to a respectable 9/189 at the close.  The Bayswater bowlers toiled manfully with the better performers being Lawrence [3/40], Michael Thistle [3/37], and Joe Barnes with 2/38.

However, another uneven batting performance with no partnerships of substance brought Bayswater undone and they were only able to muster 170 when the final wicket fell in the fourty-seventh over.  This time only veteran opener Chris Hall with 34, and Thistle, who belted 42 from 57 balls, could be praised for their efforts.  The Bears have now been eliminated from the Sunday League title race.

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