1 week Ago By Josh Callinan
There will be a battle within a battle come Sunday at No.1 Sportsground. Login or signup to continue reading Aaron Wivell and Aaron Bills have twice won the Tom Locker Cup together when playing at Wests, but this time around they will face off in Newcastle District Cricket Association's one-day final.
Wivell, now opening the batting at Wallsend, and Bills, a leg-spinner at Stockton, both hold key roles for their respective teams but only one will claim the 50-over silverware for 2024-2025. "That'll be a good match up," experienced Wallsend campaigner Nathan Price told the Newcastle Herald . "Hopefully Wiv can continue his form, he's been smashing them.
"Stockton have got a lot of spinners, but would have thought if Wiv is still batting by the time Billsy comes onto bowl then he could be on a few already. Be good viewing." Wivell, who scored a century last month, was named player of the final after guiding Wests home with an unbeaten 48 in 2017-2018 and has only missed one Tom Locker Cup decider since.
Sunday marks his sixth straight appearance in the white-ball showdown, featuring back-to-back titles alongside Bills (2020-2021, 2021-2022) and a washed-out affair in 2022-2023. Wivell then joined Wallsend, who went down to City in the corresponding clash 12 months ago. Bills, just back from a minor hamstring injury, relocated to Stockton this season.
The are both part of Newcastle's representative squad for next week's NSW Country Championships and have each worn the Bush Blues cap. "It will be good for them, they've obviously played a lot of cricket together over the years," Stockton captain Nick Foster said. "Billsy's really looking forward to it and I know he really enjoyed last week against [former side] Wests.
He was keen to get out there and do well, which he did [4-37]. "Don't think there's any bad blood, but obviously people like to do well against their old clubs and I guess it's probably no different for Wiv." Left-arm seamer Lucas Sargent misses selection for Stockton while Josh Pettigrew shapes as the replacement for unavailable Wallsend batsman Daniel McGovern.
Undefeated ladder leaders Stockton (28 points) sit one above Wallsend (27) on the overall standings after five rounds and qualified for a Tom Locker Cup shot having topped their respective pools. Outside a shared prize two years ago, the Seagulls have once held aloft the trophy in 2008-2009 while the Tigers were twice crowned one-day champions but not since 1997-1998. Play is scheduled to get underway at 10am.
In a quirk of the NDCA first-grade draw, Stockton host Wallsend at Lynn Oval on Saturday in what will be the competition's opening two-day fixture. Elsewhere and third-placed Cardiff-Boolaroo (26) are home to Merewether, City visit Charlestown in a fourth-versus-fifth encounter, Waratah-Mayfield tackle Belmont, University go head-to-head with Toronto, Wests have Hamilton-Wickham. STOCKTON: Nick Foster (c), Cameron Tanner, Jake Hainsworth, Logan Weston, Lucas Vincent, Jeff Goninan, Adrian Chad, Nathan Hudson, Aaron Bills, Josh McTaggart, Sam Alexander.
WALLSEND: Jake Montgomery (c), Aaron Wivell, Nathan Price, Callum Gabriel, Ryan Brooks, Joe Clarke, Jacob Page, Lachlan Page, Will Parkinson, Liam Taylor, Josh Pettigrew. My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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