THE SEMIS - 1st Grade v Hillgrove 1988
Armidale Waratahs (The Tahs) | March 20, 2026
Minor Premiers Waratahs, with an 11-2 win record during the season and having the wood on Hillgrove, were the clear favourites. They had a deep, in form batting line up with five batsmen with more than 300 runs, their pace attack of Andrew McNeill (#419), Michael Connolly (#293) and the promising Phil Melville (#542) had dominated opposition teams and they had experience. Hillgrove were a mixture of experience and precocious youth. Their bowling didn't look to be bothering Waratahs batting and visa versa.
It didn't work out that way.
Connolly got the first wicket in the second over but then the unexpected, as Alan Gray and Andrew Kirk set about the quicks and it took part time spinner Graham Johnson (#207) to break the partnership after 98 had been added. Vercoe then went stroke for stroke with Kirk and 103 were added. 2-205 was not envisaged and at no stage before the game were the three players who had made half centuries seen a s a threat. Vercoe was run out and Joe Harrison eventually fooled Kirk. Hillgrove's last eight wickets only added 87 but the damage was done.
Waratahs had the artillery to shoot down a big target but none of the big guns went off. Hillgrove's young bowlers, led by Mark Jackson, stuck to the task and although almost all of the Waratahs batsmen made starts, no one went beyond Brian Rhodes (#525) 30 and at 8-137, the semi-final was over ... except, no one told youngster Phil Melville.
Perhaps he was hurting at only bowling 4 overs out of 85 but more likely it was just his bloody minded attitude towards the game which refused to conceed it was ever lost. He had consistently scored lower order runs all season, even making a half century and taking part in a grade record partnership with Gary Clark (#285) which won a match that was lost against Uralla. He and that other loss-refuser, AJ McNeill (#419), pushed into gaps, started finding twos and eventually struck fours in a 90 run partnership which put air back in the asthmatic lungs of the Waratahs innings. Jackson bowled McNeill but still Melville carried on, finding a stubborn but ill-euipped Harrison as his last ally, adding another 24.
It was Jackson finally ended it, uprooting Melville's stumps and claimed four well deserved wickets, with Waratahs 41 short.
Waratahs v Hillgrove - 1st Grade, 19th & 20th March 1988
