By RUSSELL BENNETT
WGCA PREMIER DIVISION REVIEW – ROUND 2 (One day)
EMERALD v KOOWEERUP
ARGUABLY the biggest cardinal sin for a side batting first in a one-dayer is not batting out its allotted overs.
And lo and behold on Saturday at Berwick’s Haileybury campus, the reigning Premier champions Kooweerup showed just what can happen to any side when dismissed inside 40 overs.
The Demons, along with last season’s grand-final nemesis Cardinia and perennial contender Tooradin, entered the season under almost un-backable odds to make the finals. They still will, and early season form in the Premier grade is notoriously fickle, but Michael Giles and his boys would have been stunned by what transpired on the weekend.
For a while now the criticism of Emerald’s batting has been that just too much has been required from gun skipper AJ Walker. When he fires, his side fires. When he misses out, so do the Bombers.
Normally, when he comes to the crease early in a run chase and is dismissed for 59, the Bombers would struggle to mount any serious challenge. But Saturday’s was no normal game.
After winning the toss and batting first on the tight confines of the picturesque Haileybury ground, Giles (9) fell early – trapped in front by veteran Bombers speedster Clinton Marsh. There would be no repeat of last week’s heroics for his opening partner, keeper-batsman Chris Bright (14) either – removed soon after by big seamer Darcy Hellriegel. The normally rock-solid Demons top order was suddenly rattled at 2/39.
But Kooweerup’s middle order was a real strength last season and Paul Bright and Matt Davey again began to show why. They each got promising starts but the combination of Alex Cann’s steep, awkward bounce and the impressive stand-in wicket-keeping of Michael Nell removed each for 20. With superbat Chris O’Hara (1) – batting at number five in his first game of the season – and Brent Wilson (0) also out cheaply the Demons had stumbled from 3/76 to 6/87 shortly before drinks.
A 59-run stand between Matt (32) and John Bright (35) again looked to get the Koowee ship back on course and it took a pair of freak occurrences to remove them. First – Nell took a screamer off Hellriegel, diving to his right one-handed to remove John. Then soon after Matt was run-out at the non-strikers end off a dropped caught-and-bowled chance from Julian Scott that he deflected onto the stumps. As far as harsh dropped catch fines go, that takes the cake. With no wag of the tail, the Demons were rolled for 184 in 32 overs. Hellriegel (3/35) and Cann (3/48) were the pick of the Emerald attack.
Still, Koowee would have been full of confidence in defending their total. They were on track early with the wicket of Cann (9) but that brought a determined Walker to the crease. It’s clear he’s going to love playing on his new, albeit temporary, home deck. He was brutal both square of the wicket and down the ground in his rapid-fire half-century – even belting boundaries at will of the normally super-economical O’Hara.
Just when he seemed on target for a match-winning innings, he went for one lusty blow too many and was clean bowled by Matt Bright.
At 4/94, the game was in the balance with Emerald’s middle order desperately needing to stand up and make the most of the foundation Walker set.
Again, they stumbled. Matt Bright (3/18), Clint Fulton (2/33) and John Bright (2/33) tore through them like a hot knife through butter. When Jason Burns (4) was dismissed at 8/123, all hope seemed lost. But a pair of brilliant backs-to-the-wall, counter-punching partnerships from Lachlan Gleeson (9) and Hellriegel (35 not out), and then Hellriegel and Anthony Chandler (15 not out) brought the game to life. When Gleeson was controversially given out stumped at 9/157 on a pitch using spring-loaded wickets without bails it seemed the Bomber resistance would fall. But like with most fairytales, this story had one more twist. Hellriegel, known for his big hitting, hit out and hit out hard. Seeing his side home with just five balls to spare.
PAKENHAM v UPPER BEACONSFIELD
NEW Maroons skipper Chris Savage showed exactly what can happen when given an early life on Saturday.
Dropped soon after coming to the crease, he went on to record a sparkling 86 not out to help his side to what turned out to be a winning 5/197 from its 40 overs at Toomuc Reserve.
Lions’ skipper Jason Williams won the toss and put the visitors in, and the decision paid early dividends with in-form opener Julian Bayard (7) dismissed by spinner Jesse Hayhow. New Upper Beac recruit, wicket-keeper batsman Jake Serong (14) soon followed and at 2/38 it seemed Pakenham would make light work of last season’s Premier strugglers.
But last season’s strugglers could be this season’s surprise-packet. Savage combined with fellow newcomer, opener Robert North (38) for a 70-run stand to set up their side’s total. A valuable 32 from spin bowling all-rounder Scott Pitcher – who missed practically all of last season through injury – formed a key part of another lasting partnership involving Savage and at the end of their 40 overs, the visitors were in prime position for their second win in as many weeks. Hayhow was the pick of the Lions’ attack with 3/14 but, aside from Chaplin (1/27), just didn’t get enough support – particularly with gun all-rounder Chris Smith nursing a hip injury and unable to bowl.
Smith’s (7) torrid individual start to the season continued with the bat, removed early – bowled by Savage.
Russ Lehman (43) and Jack Anning (38) then set about the chase but despite their 67-run stand found momentum hard to come by. A less than ideal run rate piled pressure on the rest of the line-up which, aside from Williams’ 53, failed to fire a shot. Ultimately Lehman, Anning and Williams were the only Lions’ batsmen to reach double figures as Will Haines (3/33), Tommy Tyrrell (3/34) and Savage (2/37) worked their magic in restricting the home side to just 9/172 from their 40 overs and leaving it winless to start the season.
CARDINIA v BEACONSFIELD
THIS match-up loomed as a bloodbath in the lead-in to Round 2 and it turned out that way on paper, but Bulls’ player-coach Simon Parrott saw more than the odd positive from the Tigers on Saturday.
Everyone knows this season will be a brutally tough one for Don Kerslake’s men but Parrott said he expected them to “sneak a couple of wins” in 2014-15.
“Their bowling is super honest – one of their kids took four wickets, which included some of our better bats,” he said.
“I was really impressed with him.”
Matt Zisos indeed bowled with plenty of promise, taking 4/30, but he didn’t have much support as the Bulls still reached 8/232 from their 40 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat.
Daniel Strahan (66), Ben Darose (28), skipper Neil Barfuss (25) and Parrott himself (29) all contributed and the coach said that was one of the most pleasing signs for his side so far this season.
“We’ve got four or five guys contributing their 20 or 30 and that’s helping get us up past 200, whereas last season we relied on one or two guys to get us a big score,” Parrott said.
“I’ve been really impressed with how we’ve gone about it, but particularly in the field.
“Tooradin had a number of blokes out in Round 1 but we still really piled on the pressure.”
The Bulls started voluntary training sessions way back in early June and it shows – they’ve come out firing straight from the outset and, a little less surprisingly than Upper Beaconsfield, remain one of only two unbeaten sides so far.
Beaconsfield could only manage 7/114 in their reply on Saturday but the Tigers still batted out their overs and refused to just give their wickets away and hand the Bulls victory. Kerslake led from the front before he was stumped by Luke Turner off Barfuss (3/18) for 38.
The Cardinia skipper was superb with the ball last season but struggled to find his rhythm with the bat.
It seems the captaincy suits him though, and Parrott wholeheartedly agrees.
“He’s far exceeded my expectations as skipper,” he said.
“He’s stepped his game up to a new level and he really just stands tall.
“The boys respect him enormously – he’s very clever, he really thinks about the game out there, and with the bat he’s hitting the ball about as cleanly as I’ve seen him
“That old Barf arrogance, in a sense, is back.”
Looking ahead to this weekend’s mouth-watering battle against Kooweerup at Lakeside, Parrott said the Demons would go in as favourites despite their shock loss to the Bombers.
“Last year we started horribly and still played in a grand final,” he said.
“You probably can’t read too much into ladder position until about Round 10.”
Cardinia is in a stretch that includes playing three of last season’s top sides in the space of four rounds, and the Bulls will be missing Turner, Darose and Mark Andolfatto for the next couple of weeks. Still, don’t be surprised to see them cause an ‘upset’ over the Demons.
TOORADIN v MERINDA PARK
THE Seagulls have recorded their first win of the season off the back of an impressive showing by young all-rounder Dylan Sutton at the Tooradin Rec Reserve.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat but were restricted to just 6/147 from their 40 overs. Star all-rounders, skipper Tom Hussey (20) and his predecessor Aaron Avery (18) each got starts but couldn’t convert them into big scores. But Sutton, batting at number three, looked super impressive in his 42 and the final partnership of the Seagulls innings – between Michael Ralph (19 not out) and Ash Adams (24 not out) ultimately proved all the difference.
The Cobras started promisingly in their reply but, much like Tooradin, a host of their recognised batsmen struggled to convert on their starts – including openers Daniel McCalman (17) and Chris Smith (29), and Andrew Martin (18).
Skipper Danny Diwell (42) loomed as potential match-winner but he became the second of a five-wicket haul from the man of the moment Sutton (5/27). His dismissal was part of a collapse that saw the Cobras lose their final six wickets for just 27 runs to be all out for 123 in the 36th over.
The Seagulls will travel to Haileybury this week for an intriguing battle against the Bombers.
