By Nick Creely
AROUND THE GROUNDS
VIC PREMIER CRICKET
ROUND 14 (DAY ONE)
Casey-South Melbourne quick Jackson Fry summed it up perfectly in the wake of a horror day for the club on Saturday, with Footscray needing only six more wickets to achieve an outright victory.
The Swans batted for just 47 overs on day one of its clash after being sent in at Casey Fields, losing 14 wickets and scoring just 123 runs for the day.
“Really good sides, and really good players, go on with it and get the job done, and we can’t do that this year,” Fry said after a tough day for the club.
While there is a clear experience difference between the 18th placed Swans and the fifth placed Dogs, the Swans lasted just 90 minutes of the first session before being bundled out for a lowly 61.
Hamish Winter-Irving (2/23) and Jonah Koch (3/20) controlled proceedings with the new ball, with youngster Austin Heldt (0) edging the ball into the sticky gloves of Dylan Kight (five catches) in the first over, setting the tone.
Michael Wallace (4), Lachlan Sperling (4) and a more defiant Dev Pollock (13) all fell to some clever bowling, with Sperling and Pollock forced into false strokes through some movement off the pitch.
Despite Luke Manders (21) looking classy in his return game, with some cracking drives that netted him five boundaries, his dismissal at the hands of Lucas Dredge (5/17) sparked an almighty collapse that saw the Swans lose their last five wickets for just 11 runs.
The Dogs lost Matt Underwood (6) early in the chase, but carved boundaries at an alarming rate, declaring after just 46 overs with the score ticking over to 7/231.
The Swans had 24 overs left to face for the day, and were left red faced as they were quickly 4/30.
Luke Manders (44 not out) once again played a splendid counter attacking knock, crunching eight boundaries, while Dylan Hadfield (6 not out) managed to also bat out the day and give the Swans a fighting chance of avoiding outright.
“Very disappointing, there is probably not many positives to take out of that day’s play; being sent in and being knocked over in 22 overs makes it a disappointing day for the club,” Fry said.
“Hopefully we can fight back; avoiding outright will be tough, but we’ll put our best foot forward and try and end the game on a high.”
While Fry acknowledges his side is still in a learning faze of its development, he was full of praise for the club out west.
“They’re a quality side, and I think they’ll win the premiership to be honest, it’s them or Dandenong for me; when you look at our side, with guys like Joel Mitchell, Austin Heldt, even Luke Manders who has played just 12 games, it is a real learning curve and we can take stuff out of it about how they went about it,” he said.
“I’d like to think we aren’t the worst side in the comp and shouldn’t be on the bottom; you just have to look at last season and how well we went, and we know the talent is good; as a group, we have to work harder, no doubt.
“We’re confident that if we can stick together over the next few years we can push back up the ladder and gain respect around the competition.”
Fry didn’t hide his frustrations at the middle order collapses that have become frequent this season, but conceded with experience, will come consistency.
“When we bat first, unfortunately we haven’t been able to post scores; it certainly makes it tough, but the best thing we can do is try and maybe be competitive first and foremost and try and win a couple,” he said.
“It does come down to experience; no doubt; but we just have struggled to either post scores or close games out.”
Down at Shepley Oval, Essendon recovered from a shaky start to put Dandenong under pressure at stumps.
Left arm seamer Jak Jowett (3/53) was on song early, picking up Lakshmn Shivakumar (8) and skipper Aaron Ayre (0), before James Nanopoulos got the through the gate of Aaron Shellie (0), Nishal Perera fell next ball and James Seymour (36) the next over to Jowett.
The Bombers were 5/48, and were in desperate need of a partnership.
Enter Michael Hill, the former Victorian batsman, who carved a patient, and classy 86 not out, combining in strong partnerships with Isaac Conway (37) and veteran Clint McKay (52) to lift the visitors to a competitive 249.
The Panthers were rocked early by the wicket of champion skipper Tom Donnell (7) who edged the ball off McKay (1/8).
Brett Forsyth (14) and Comrey Edgeworth (9) steadied out late in the day to reach 1/31, 219 runs shy of a victory to consolidate top spot.
WARRAGUL DISTRICT
ROUND 11 (DAY TWO)
A performance from the ages from Western Park skipper Sam Batson saw his side pull off a mind boggling victory over Drouin at Crowe Horwath Oval.
In a scorecard that may look like a typo; but isn’t; Batson bowled 23.4 overs, 18 maidens and took 7/6; rolling the Hawks for 49 in 56.4 overs, with the visitors falling 54 runs short of victory after the Warriors made 103.
It’s not the first time this season Batson has put on a show; back in round 5, he also took 7/34 off 29 overs, in what has been a brilliant individual season that will likely catch the attention of Premier Cricket clubs.
And Ellinbank (6/242) will be smiling from ear to ear about that result, with their win over Longwarry (239) keeping them in touching distance of the top four.
The Bankers chased down the competitive total in just 34.5 overs, with Sean Masterson (56 not out) doing the bulk of the damage.
Hallora (7/218), meanwhile, picked up an outright victory over Yarragon (104 and 77), with the home side jumping to top spot as a result.
Buln Buln had the bye
SUBBIES – SOUTH/EAST
ROUND 10 (DAY TWO)
Endeavour Hills proved to be no match for the brilliance of Caulfield down at Sydney Pargeter Reserve on day two, with the Eagles falling well short in the run chase.
Chasing 292 for victory, Caulfield skipper Jacob Thorne; fresh off 142 not out last week; took 5/48, as the Eagles faltered for just 115 in 50.5 overs.
Nilochana Perera (39) and Henry Vettivelu (35) top scored on a tough day for the Eagles.
Noble Park, meanwhile, lost big against Malvern on day two, but avoided outright after batting out the final two hours unscathed.
After swiftly moving past the Parkers’ 71 in the first innings, the Roosters reached 7/204 and declared, sending the visitors in to face the music.
But Andrew Brown (15 off 107 balls) and Mevan Fernando (45) batted out the day to win back some respect.
WOMEN’S PREMIER CRICKET
ROUND 6 – TWENTY20
Dandenong remains second on the Twenty20 ladder after a barnstorming victory last Wednesday night against Ringwood at Shepley Oval.
The Panthers were excellent with the ball; restricting the Rams to just 5/103 off their 20 overs; with Chelsea Moscript (1/23) and Megan Pauwels (1/21) doing a fine job in the middle overs.
The home side were in virtual cruise mood from the beginning, with Joanne van der Veen (40 not out), Lucy Cripps (35) and Emma Gallagher (21 not out) combining to run down the total with 2.5 overs and nine wickets left in the shed.
Dandenong will play Essendon Maribyrnong Park at Melville Oval on 3 February in the final Twenty20 game before finals.
MPCA – PROVINCIAL
ROUND 11 (DAY ONE)
Pearcedale are in for a fascinating run chase when play resumes on Saturday against Baxter, with the Panthers looking to claim a few late season scalps.
The Panthers are chasing 191 after the home side put in a solid, but inconsistent showing at Wayne Landry Oval.
Run machines Daniel Warwick (63) and Chris Brittain (39) recovered after some early wickets, but a brilliant spell in the middle overs by Jake Roberts (5/65) significantly pegged the scoring back.
In the other matches, Langwarrin (261) racked up a big score against Sorrento, Mornington (208) is in a tight tussle with Crib Point (0/1) and Mt Eliza (151) versus Peninsula OB (3/50) is set to go down to the wire.
