Leschenault stars help Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association claim A and B Section titles at Country Week

Four Leschenault stars have returned from Perth after being part of the A and B Section teams who took out titles at the 2022 Senior Country Week. Tom Buchanan and Brody D’Agostino were members of the A Section side who ended a 12-year drought with a thumping 205-run victory over Peel, while Nico Le Roux and Shehzad Gondal claimed the B Section title with a similarly-dominant seven-wicket win over Albany and Districts. Buchanan averaged over 40 runs for the tournament, with a masterful 103 off 99 balls against Eastern Goldfields highlighting his week. The classy number three paired with Eaton star Julian Crudeli to put on 158 runs and book Bunbury in to the semi final. D’Agostino was relatively quiet with the ball but his round three 1-16 off eight overs and 1-8 off six in the grand final were nothing to scoff at. The key moment of D’Agostino’s tournament was when he went a long way to sealing the championship for Bunbury in the final, claiming the wicket of Country XI star Tim Hutchison to leave Peel 5-32. In the B Section, Gondal stole the show, taking 20 wickets at an average of under eight. Gondal claimed three five-wicket-hauls for the week, including a remarkable 5-21 off 6.1 overs in the B Section grand final against Albany and Districts. Gondal said the support of his teammates was one of the main reasons for his success. “Each time I went to my bowling mark, the boys were cheering and telling me it was going to be a wicket ball,” he said. “I love those blokes, especially now they know me and I know them.” Young gun Le Roux was also part of the side, and notched 79 runs in the tournament including a dominant 48 against South Midlands. Remarkably, this was the 15-year-old’s second country week win in as many weeks, having claimed the Junior Country Week under 16 A Section title the week previous.