Quartermaine’s cameo gives Settlers a rough day at the ‘beach

Perennial representative master blaster Arron Quartermaine smashed 76 for reigning premiers Eaton during their convincing 89-run win over Dalyellup Beach on Saturday at Dalyellup College. Although the Bobtails were without in-form recruit Julian Crudeli, skipper Clayton Caltsounis was able to slot Quartemaine seamlessly into his spot for the clash — and he very quickly repaid the faith shown in him. Settlers players routinely had to pick up the pieces from Quartermaine’s (five boundaries and four sixes) aerial brilliance, as both he and James Hillery (60 off 96 balls) showed no mercy against the bottom-placed side. Although Eaton lost a few wickets towards the back end of their impressive stint at the crease, 236 looked to be a tough score for the Settlers to chase down. Even without impressive seamer Jacob Wintle, the Bobtails bowlers were extremely disciplined, with Ben Simpson (2-19 off six overs) and Liam Renton (0-25 off eight overs) making scoring difficult for the home side. At 2-31 off 11 overs, the game appeared to be at a crossroads for the Settlers, who needed a gritty knock to get them going. Up stepped Cody Ryan (65 off 92 balls), who hung tough at the crease, irrespective of each challenge thrown at him. Unfortunately for the Settlers, the soaring required run-rate proved too big of a hurdle, with a late Hillery (4-18 off four overs) burst capping off another splendid away showing by the Bobtails. Caltsounis told the Bunbury Herald prior to the clash that he wanted his side to produce a quality display given the looming Country Week break, and the nature of the victory mirrored his request.