BDCA 2022/23: Dalyellup’s third-grade cricket team rolled for must-be-seen-to-be-believed total by Donnybrook

A minor grade country cricket team is believed to have recorded the lowest score in WA history when it notched just three runs in a horror outing at the weekend. Dalyellup’s third grade squad went head-to-head against Donnybrook in the Bunbury Districts Cricket Association round five match on Saturday, but failed to fire out the gate after being kept to just three runs for the whole match, one of which was from a wide ball. Mick Caddy and Jonathon Flower have the distinction of recording the team’s only two runs for the day, with nine of their teammates out for a duck. Caddy managed a single run before he was caught, while Flower finished not out. It is the team’s lowest team score since managing only 24 runs to Burekup’s 204 during round 18 of the BDCA’s 2006-07 season, when the club was known as Dalyellup Beach Cricket Club. It seemed to be business as usual with Dalyellup winning the toss and opting to field first, which seemed to be a winning strategy during Dalyellup’s win over Leschenault in round four. Dalyellup were off to a promising start, with Donnybrook’s Mark Manea caught for 22 during the fifth over, followed by Suren Numberdar being bowled by Daniel Armstrong for three in the subsequent over. Dylan Emmott was then bowled for three runs by Cameron Payne in the seventh over. Donnybrook managed to find their groove with the pairing of Mark Della Sale and Dion Parker, with each of them lasting more than an hour until Payne bowled Della Sale for 30, followed by Parker not long after notching his first half-century of the season. Payne’s dominant effort continued with two more wickets, racking up six in total as Dalyellup ultimately kept Donnybrook to 174 runs after 39.3 overs. When it was time to switch, no one could predict what was going to happen next. It took only three balls for Dalyellup’s first wicket to fall with Paul Renfree out for a duck via an LBW. While Dalyellup managed to get a run on the board via a wide ball during the second over, what followed was nothing short of extraordinary as Dalyellup batters starting dropping like flies with five players out for a duck until Caddy managed one run before he was caught. Donnybrook continued racking up the wickets with two more players out for ducks before Flower added another run to their very small tally. The final nail in the coffin was Amber Strachan becoming the ninth player out without recording any runs, leaving Dalyellup all out for three in less than eight overs, with Numberdar and Parker both racking up five wickets each. BDCA president Russell Lindroth said the side was filled with fourth and fifth grade players after a majority of its usual squad could not compete. Despite this, Mr Lindroth said it was the lowest score he had seen in 24 seasons with the BDCA.