Singleton District Cricket Association took out this year’s Hunter Valley John Bull Shield competition with a seven-wicket victory over Newcastle Suburban District in the final played at Howe Park last Sunday.
Although conditions were very humid and uncomfortable for players, thankfully the haze of smoke that engulfed the arena the night previous had moved on to set the scene for a nice clear day for cricket.
Singleton skipper Jackson Cox won the toss, and to a lot of people’s surprise asked the Suburban District team to bat first.
They ticked things along fairly steadily for the majority of the innings, but really ramped things up at the back end of proceedings to post a competitive 7-245 on the back of an outstanding century from skipper Mitch Kroehnert who blasted an unbeaten 145 from just 113 balls.
His innings included six boundaries and eleven maximums. Other batsmen to offer support included Varun Sharma (18), Matt White (16) and Rohan Mokal (14).
Alex Stafa (2-68 off 10), Brandon Carman (2-65 off 10) and Cooper Bailey (2-66 off 10) picked up a brace of wickets each for Singleton in expensive spells thanks to the cavalier display from Kroehnert.
Singleton required just under five an over in reply, and they kept the run-rate in check nicely up until lightning brought play to a halt after 27 overs with Singleton sitting in a commanding position at 1-127.
When the umpires decided it was safe to return to play, the innings was reduced to 37 overs, with the revised Duckworth/Lewis target being 176. The home side wasted no time in getting the job done, finishing things in a flurry in just 33.2 overs after losing two more wickets.
Ross Parker cut the ribbon with an entertaining 31no, Jackson Cox and Steve Abel made 35 and 20 respectively, but it was Brad Cox who held the innings together beautifully at the top of the order with 70 in what was a typical innings of control and game management.
Dibyendu Mishra was the pick of the Suburban District attack with 2-32 off eight.
Kroehnert was named man-of-the-match in a beaten side.
It was the 21st time Singleton had won the John Bull Shield in the competition’s 102-year history, with the most recent of these titles occurring back in season 2015-16. Also worth a mention is that they only lost fourteen wickets across the whole tournament in four innings, batting second each time.
They will now contest the Country Plate Zone Final against the Northern Inland champions on Sunday, February 22. If successful they will take on the Western Division winners in the semi-final, with the final being played possibly at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
2025-26 SDCA John Bull Shield Squad
Jackson Cox (capt, PCH/Glendon), Steve Abel (Creeks), Anthony Bailey (PCH/Glendon), Cooper Bailey (PCH/Glendon), Kyle Bailey (PCH/Glendon), Isaac Barry (Valley/JPC), Brandon Carman (Valley/JPC), Bradley Cox (PCH/Glendon), Luke Dempster (Valley/JPC), Nathan Hudson (Creeks), Jack Morris (Creeks), Ross Parker (Valley/JPC), Alex Stafa (Valley/JPC), Nathan Stapleford (Creeks), Daniel Storey (Valley/JPC), Jack Turner (PCH/Glendon), Matthew Wilkinson (Valley/JPC).-MARK BERCINI
