ADCA 2025-26: Marvellous Marwick puts Railways back on track but Bulls sneak home after entertaining chase

Mt Barker recorded a four-wicket win but a revitalised Railways pushed them all the way in their Albany and Districts Cricket Association round nine A-grade contest on Turf South on Saturday. They may still be without a win this campaign but a newly disciplined approach from the Tigers helped them see out their allocated overs for the first time — and almost forced the Bulls to bat through theirs, as they made it home with four balls to spare. The Bulls were missing some regulars and had plenty of wickets in hand, but a skipper’s performance from Tigers’ Coen Marwick meant there was no letting up for the favourites as the overs ticked away in what became an entertaining chase. It was quite an afternoon for the captain and his team, and Marwick was left feeling his side had turned the corner after a testing start to the summer. A midweek training session, where only runs between the wickets counted — no boundaries were allowed — was designed to temper the enthusiasm of his young team to wallop every ball. They took the lessons onto the oval against the reigning premiers and, the occasional wild swing aside, grabbed their best total of the year. “We are a super-young side, but I think there was a bit of complacency after we got to the grand final last (season),” Marwick said. “I think they know that they have to work a bit harder. “We wanted to be positive and look for singles, not just go for fours and sixes or nothing, but turn the strike over regularly and score that way. “I’m pleased we did it, and I hope we have turned the corner.” The Tigers won the toss and batted, making a useful start as Devon Jefferis scored 33 off 63 balls before he was caught by Joe Robinson off Paul Osborne’s bowling. When it came to running singles and rotating the strike, Marwick led by example, scampering between the stumps in the company of Milan Jaggi and then Corey Rogers. He reached his 50 in the best way possible, slugging Tyler Crommelin for six, but the paceman got his revenge when Marwick top-edged an attempted drive and Bulls wicketkeeper Robinson sprinted to his left to take the catch. Marwick had contributed 61 runs and after he fell, Mohit Jaggi and Lachlan Tindale batted with style to add 29 runs apiece as the Tigers set their first properly competitive total of the season at 9-218. The Tigers were able to make early inroads into the Bulls’ reply as Robinson was run out and then Crommelin fell victim to a Rogers catch off Mohit Jaggi’s bowling. However, there was no dislodging Alex Fergie and Ryan Gaerth, who took the Bulls from a wobbly-looking 2-39 to a much more comfortable 3-183 when Fergie was caught by Marwick off Tindale for 79. When Gaerth was bowled by Marwick for a splendid 83 with the score still 183, the Tigers must have thought they were back in the hunt. However, Jarrad Gardner steadied the ship with an unbeaten 16 to help the Bulls finish the job. Eight Tigers bowlers tried their luck, with Mitchell T’Hart’s 2-18 the best of the bunch. Gaerth was the star of the show for the Bulls, taking 3-44 to add to his match-turning innings.