Kookaburras are 4-55 in reply with Milne unbeaten on 20 and Bon Winsor not out on 13.

“The boys bowled and fielded well and with only 10 players to restrict them to 130 was an exceptional effort,” Milne said.

They had Albion 3-36 before Andy Mack (25 off 38) and skipper Brad Jenkinson (30 off 52) led a brief revival but the wickets fell consistently after that with James Mack (14 off 39) and Luke Ryan (12 off 11) the only batsmen after them to reach double figures.

The secret for Kookaburras was consistency and length.

“We’ve been working on it all year. They actually hit the right lengths and we managed to hang in there when things didn’t go our way,” Milne said.

He said there were a lot of shots that just went over fielders heads and the like.

“It wasn’t the easiest pitch to bat on,” he said.

“It wasn’t consistent pace all day.”

The pitch did liven up a bit after a shower at tea, which at one stage looked like it might have washed out the remainder of the day’s play but petered out after about five minutes.

There was still a bit in it when Kookaburras turn came to bat, but they negotiated that pretty well.

“We got through the first few overs. We lost our way a little bit and then regathered thanks to a bit of luck going our way finally,” Milne said.

“They dropped a couple of catches which gave us a bit of a reprieve.”

He was one of the beneficiaries of Albion’s fumbling.

As he did with the bat, Milne led from the front with the ball snaring 4-46. James McGowan and Vinnie Winsor also chipped in with two in what was a good allround bowling performance.

“Everyone did their job. They stayed patient instead of looking for wickets,” he said.

“That’s what two-day cricket is about.”

He said probably the best part of the bowling effort was that they cleaned up the Albion tail quickly. They didn’t have that late partnership to get them out of trouble.

“We got a run out, which I was really happy with. We’ve been working on that all year, so that was great,” he said.

Albion’s batsmen were guilty of not applying themselves to the task.

“We got plenty of starts so it is a bit disappointing,” Jenkinson said.

“There were a few good balls in there. The rest of us threw our wickets away.”

“Myself and Andy were the biggest offenders there.”

Jenkinson was bowled just before tea after charging down the pitch at [Vinnie] Winsor.

“Obviously it’s still evenly poised,” he said.

“We’ve still got the big wicket of Milne.”

“I still think we can do the job.”

He was a surprise addition to the attack and bowled well finishing with 2-6 from his six.

Hoping to bowl in the War Veterans Cup final, he explained that he thought he’d better get a few overs in.

Ryan (1-11) and Ash White (1-7) chipped in with the other two wickets, White particularly impressing his skipper.

“Ash White bowled an awesome opening spell,” he said.

“He pulled out a cracking yorker, which we haven’t seen a lot of.”

He said he was unlucky not to get a few more wickets.

“He beat the bat a few times,” he said.