By DAVID NAGEL
IT’S crunch time.
It’s only one of 14 equal chapters that make up the story of a cricket season but Round 14, the final round of home-and-away matches, just seems to have something more hanging on it than the rest.
And this season it comes down to 24 of the 34 scheduled matches to decide two things.
Firstly, who finishes top two and gains a crucial home-ground advantage and an insurance policy against bad weather come semi-final time.
And secondly, who sneaks into third and fourth with an underdog shot at the title.
Only B Grade is set in this regard, with Merinda Park and Kooweerup set to host home finals while Tooradin and Beaconsfield will fill the third and fourth positions. But for all other grades… it’s game on!
From Kooweerup and Merinda Park’s battle for a top-two spot in Premier Division, all the way down to Pakenham and Merinda Park’s showdown for a likely spot in the G-Grade finals… the action will be hot everywhere as six-months of toil and effort hangs in the balance.
Our grade to watch is E Grade; where seventh-placed Lang Lang could just about be the bookies favourites to leap-frog three other teams, Officer, Kooweerup and Beaconsfield, into fourth place at precisely the right time of the season.
Here are the games that matter in Round 14.
PREMIER
Emerald v Merinda Park and Pakenham v Kooweerup.
DISTRICT
Pakenham Upper/Toomuc v Officer, Lyndhurst Vikings v Clyde and SFX Old Collegians v Cranbourne Meadows.
SUB-DISTRICT
Catani v Lang Lang and Nyora v Pakenham.
C GRADE
Merinda Park v Lyndhurst Vikings, Cranbourne Meadows v Pakenham Upper/Toomuc, Officer v Pakenham and Tooradin v Cardinia.
D GRADE
Officer v Clyde, Catani v Merinda Park and Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll v Pakenham Upper/Toomuc.
E GRADE
Lang Lang v Nyora, Devon Meadows v Officer, Gembrook v Kooweerup and Pakenham v Beaconsfield.
F GRADE
Merinda Park v Officer, Pakenham Upper/Toomuc v Lyndhurst Vikings and Tooradin v Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll.
G GRADE
Lyndhurst Vikings v Emerald, Pakenham v Merinda Park and Cranbourne Meadows v Catani.
