SUNRAYSIA cricketers Richie Wyld, Mark Cleary, Shaun Mathews and Brad Thomas have all become national champions.
The quartet played important roles for South Australia as they won the Veterans Cricket Australia Over 40 division 1 grand final in Perth on Friday.
The SA side ran out three-wicket winners over Queensland in the deciding match, chasing down their 138-run target with eight overs spare.
The Sunraysia players all had an impact in the final.
Mathews took a wicket and made a crucial 28 in the run chase to get his side across the line, Wyld took 2/8 to help clean up the tail and Cleary nabbed 2/19, including Queensland captain Justin Pool whose skied lofted drive was caught at mid-off by Thomas.
Mathews was the state’s leading scorer for the tournament with 153 runs, including a knock of 65 against WA Karrak, while Thomas was second with 143, including 69 in the same match.
Spinner Mathews was also SA’s leading wicket-taker with eight scalps, Wyld took seven and Cleary three, the former duo both inside the top 10.
Wyld’s performances for South Australia over the past two years earned him a call-up to the Australian Over 40 team to face New Zealand in 2023, before also representing the country at the Over 40 World Cup in South Africa this year.
