UGSCA 2025: Williams hold nerve late to beat Wandering to secure back-to-back A-grade grand final victories

Williams claimed back-to-back Upper Great Southern Cricket Association A-grade premierships after beating rivals Wandering in a tense finish on Saturday. Wandering had been the team to beat in the regular season, winning all 12 games before a qualifying final loss to Williams on March 8. However they rebounded in last week’s preliminary final against Cuballing to set up a grand final showdown with Williams for the second consecutive season. In a low-scoring affair at Williams, the home side were restricted to 5-138 from their 45 overs batting first. The victory target was in the sights of Wandering for much of the chase as star Ben Sherry played brilliantly. Sherry’s half century was not enough however, as Wandering lost 6-18 at the end to hand Williams a 32-run grand final triumph. Young gun Riley Ford was named man of the match in the title win, getting Williams to a defendable total with a superb 49 not out before taking 1-11 with the ball. Wandering appeared in control with Sherry and Glenn Byron putting on 31 runs in the middle overs but the disciplined Williams attack proved too good. Spearhead Julian Crudeli picked up four wickets while veteran Rodney Ford and Riley Ford were difficult to score against. Williams captain Rodney Ford said his team were ecstatic after an “an unreal win” in such a close game. “It was a tough game of cricket, very close but the boys got enough runs on the board,” Rodney Ford said. “Ben Sherry battered really well and was probably going to get them home but once we got him out I thought it brought life into the game. “They’ve got some really good players so we just thought it we can bowl well and put the pressure on, restrict their runs and get the wickets. I thought our bowlers bowled pretty well. Wandering were in early trouble when Crudeli bowled Jacob Schorer with the third ball of the innings and then Michael Forman snared the big wicket of Bryan Hardie for four. The visitors steadied after being 2-13 but Rodney Ford’s introduction brought Ben McMillan undone on two. Byron added 18 before he fell to Riley Ford and Sherry continued to score but was losing teammates quickly. Bailey Parsons (2) and Jordan Hughes (2) both went cheaply and the big moment came when Crudeli dismissed Sherry LBW for 58 to give Williams a third wicket in the space of four overs as Wandering fell to 7-92. The experience of Williams shone through as they cleaned up the tail quickly, bowling Wandering out for 106 in the 35th over to secure successive titles. Crudeli was very influential with 4-19 from 8.2 overs and had great support from Forman (2-22) and Rodney Ford (2-26) while Riley Ford bowled five overs to return 1-11. Sherry’s knock was full of class, hitting seven boundaries in his 73-ball innings that gave Wandering hope of victory. Earlier Riley Ford helped get the home side out of trouble with his defiant innings. Wandering had Williams on the ropes at 4-38 with Michael Cowcher (5), Forman (9), Rodney Ford (12) and Crudeli (9) all gone. However a 63-run stand from Riley Ford and Toby Lavender gave Williams a target to bowl to. Lavender was trapped in front by Jordan Hughes (2-46) after making 39 from 77 balls but Riley Ford played maturely to finish unbeaten on 49 from 89 balls, with two fours and two sixes. He found a late partner in Robert Rose (12no) as Williams batted out their overs after losing the toss and Wandering chose to bowl first. Sherry finished with 2-11 from seven overs while Hardie bowled tightly with his 10 overs returning 1-12. Wandering captain Bailey Parsons said he was proud of his side despite the heartbreaking defeat. “It’s a pretty hard loss to cop but at the end of the day their was some pretty gutsy batting by them and quality bowling, so that was the better side on the day and they fully deserve that win,” Bailey Parsons said. “I thought we gave ourselves every chance with our bowling, we took some big wickets. “Then they dug in and probably got 20 too many runs at the end. “We bowled well and fielded well so we should be proud of our efforts. “They’ve definitely got some key players that we look to attack and our plans probably paid off but at the end of the day they had some young batsmen that really stood up for them and batted well and were probably the difference today.”