A father-son duo in Australian club cricket put on a mammoth partnership on Saturday (March 14).
The latest round of grade cricket in Australia saw Morphettville Park and Coromandel's fifth XIs face off at the Ascot Park Primary School ground in the Section 8 Claim This Cup of the Adelaide & Suburban Association.
Opening the batting for Coromandel in the first innings were the father and son pair of Darren and Sam Cheek. Father Darren took strike, and scored two boundaries off Kalani Wiraga's opening over. He got a four and a six in the second over, before Sam got his first boundary in the fourth over of the innings.
Even if he was late to get going, Sam soon took over the scoring; he was the first of the pair to reach a half-century, off 29 balls. Darren got there soon after, off 37 deliveries, as the partnership went past 100.
Sam eventually reached triple-figures off 56 balls, getting to the mark with his seventh maximum of the innings. Darren kept a good pace with his younger partner, getting to his own century in 64 deliveries. But it was after that, that Sam went berserk.
A further six sixes took him from 100 to 150 in just 17 deliveries. Seven sixes and two fours later, he had reached 200 off 87 balls. His next 100 runs came off a mere 22 balls – he hit five fours and 13 sixes, including six off Darcy Lane in the 32nd over of the innings. A slight slowdown occurred thereafter, as getting from 300 to 400 took him 26 balls.
At the end of it all, Sam remained unbeaten on 402 off 137 balls, having hit an incredible 30 fours and 42 sixes. Darren looked slow by comparison, with 175* off 108 deliveries – perhaps not bad considering he regularly plays over-60s cricket. Coromandel racked up 590-0 in their 40 overs.
I'm not involved with either club, so not sure of the circumstances.
— Stephanie Dempsey (@Stephanie85WAGY) March 14, 2026
Checked PlayHQ records: Darren plays mostly Veterans over 60s comp, but has 17, 3,82, 1 in Div 8 & 36 & 5 in next grade up.
Sam's played 6 matches in this Div prior to today 71, 20, 38, 107 & 80
Unsurprisingly, Morphettville Park were never in the chase. They made a steady 146-3 in their allotted 40 overs. Sam and Darren opened the bowling as well, returning figures of 8-2-11-0 and 6-2-11-1 respectively.
Sam Cheek: Innings progression for Coromandel V
| Score | Balls |
| 0-50 | 29 balls |
| 50-100 | 27 balls |
| 100-150 | 17 balls |
| 150-200 | 14 balls |
| 200-250 | 12 balls |
| 250-300 | 10 balls |
| 300-350 | 13 balls |
| 350-400 | 13 balls |
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