By Tyler Lewis and Nick Creely
AROUND THE GROUNDS
VICTORIAN PREMIER CRICKET
It took just 15.5 overs, four maidens, and 26 runs for an outrageous nine wickets.
And that was only the first innings for Dandenong’s James Nanopoulos at Greenvale Reserve on Saturday.
Only a week after grabbing Roger Gill’s record of 313 scalps, the right-arm seamer decided to add another 11 wickets to his name in a day that will go down in Dandenong Cricket Club folklore.
The Kangaroos won the toss, elected to bat and immediately felt the impact of a career-best Nanopoulos, who skipped to the figures of 7/8 inside the first 45 minutes of play.
Nanopoulos finished with 9/26, with tweaker Suraj Randiv snaring the only other victim in his spell of 1/0 from five.
After claiming the most wickets record in front of his home crowd last week at Shepley Oval, when Nanopoulos claimed his eighth, he had then secured the record for the best bowling figures in an innings.
And when he took his ninth, the club’s record for best figures in a match, the match wasn’t even finished.
The Panthers were set to chase 50 for first innings points, which was passed comfortably two down.
It was Cam Forsyth who added 46 to excel the Panthers to a handy 118-run lead.
When Tom Donnell waved in his men, and pushed the Roos out for another bat, Nanopoulos was given another shot with the ball.
And it was an opportunity he took with both hands, claiming yet another wicket inside his first over.
He wasn’t finished yet though, jagging a second only balls later before Greenvale finished the day 3/39 in the second innings with their tails between their legs, trailing by 79 to avoid an outright loss.
Nanopoulos bowled a long spell over the course of the day, and said his body is holding up okay despite an early scare, and after overstepping in his first delivery of the day, a new superstition may be taking place.
“(I’m feeling) not too bad, I am getting a bit older now so you start to feel it but I’m all good,” he said.
“I actually thought ‘how could that be?’ because I actually pulled my run up back a bit.
“Ed (Newman) said after the game that I have to bowl one (no ball) every time now.
“I think I ended up bowling four in the second innings so I was getting pretty frustrated by it.
“I think the first couple of overs I had 0/5 and my quad was a bit sore so I was like ‘oh no’, but then it came all good.”
After claiming the first eight, it seemed as though Nanopoulos could get them all, before Suraj Randiv snuck through a scalp of his own. Despite costing Nanopoulos a 10-wicket haul, he wasn’t too fussed about it.
“Not really (fussed), I was pretty tired, I think I was on to my 10th over so I sort of wanted to get it out of the way and get off the ground for a bat.
“It is not every day you try to take a bag of eight or nine so I tried to keep going and I was lucky enough to get the last one with a pretty rank delivery.
“But when it is your day, it is your day I guess.”
Nanopoulos entered the match 14 wickets behind the Dandenong record of most scalps in a season (Roger Gill and Will Carr 46), but he may very well leave the match with his name etched into every Dandenong Cricket Club bowling record as he left the days play with 11/45 and a chance at the seven remaining next week.
Down at Casey Fields, Ashley Chandrasinghe made one of the more memorable debuts of recent memory.
The rising 18-year-old Swan not only became the latest player to make his first XI debut for Casey-South Melbourne, but in the process, produced one of the finest performances of the season, notching up an incredible century against the highly-rated Northcote.
It’s been an incredible few weeks for the talented leftie, who starred for the Southern Pioneers in the Youth Premier League under 18s, whacking 206 runs at an average of 206.
But few would have seen his performance on Saturday coming when he answered the call to open up alongside Luke Wells in the absence of gun batsman Nathan Freitag (attending a wedding).
Chandrasinghe showed poise, incredible patience and unflappable concentration to bat from ball one of the day until the second last over, producing an epic 144 off 286 balls, all in which came within 378 minutes.
And Swans coach Brian Keogh could hardly contain his excitement, and after watching stacks of cricket over the journey, believes it was one of the most memorable knocks he’s witnessed.
“It’s right up there – for Ash to come out to do that was incredible,” he said.
“And to be fair the Northcote attack are great, they’re fourth on the ladder for a reason.
“That’s a genuine 144 against a top-eight side – the Northcote guys have a real presence about them, just watching them in the warm up you can tell they’re fourth.
“Nobody gifted Ash those runs – it was an outstanding innings, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, I want him to enjoy the moment and enjoy the journey.
“But it’s really exciting for us – the season has been pretty frustrating, but to have this is really great.”
Keogh said that the selectors have been discussing the youngster for some time, and were pleased to be able to give him a chance in the red-ball clash.
“We talked a lot as a selection group about when to bring him in, and we just felt the two-day game at home in good conditions at Casey would be good,” he said.
“I was confident he’d do well, but I certainly didn’t expect 144 off 280 rocks – it was like he’s been out there for five seasons, he just looked so comfortable, he’s got a terrific temperament, never gets distracted and just plays each ball on its merits.
“He stays in the moment, and knows his game well – that’s the really exciting part, he’s got all the foundations but he’s got more tricks in his bag.”
After a strong first session which the Swans lost just one wicket with Chandrasinghe and Aaron Fernando (24) looking set, the home side lost a clump of wickets through the middle to be in a spot of bother.
But the Swans recovered, showcasing its strong depth with the bat – particularly with the red-ball – to post the highest score across the competition for the day.
“It was really good – we were disappointed with last week, but overall we’ve been disappointed this season,” Keogh said.
“We went in with high aspirations of this season, and for a variety of reasons it hasn’t gone our way, but we made a strong pact to finish the season well, and fight really hard.
“It was a really good day.”
Another strong performance on the day was that of keeper batsman Devin Pollock, who crunched 80 after coming in at 5/168 and putting on 157 runs with Chandrasinghe, in a partnership that saw the Swans lift itself into a dominant position.
MPCA – PENISULA DIVISION
ROUND 10
Pearcedale suffered another tough loss, this time to Pines at Eric Bell Reserve.
The Panthers fielded first, but the home side completely dominated, racking up 3/221 off its 40 overs, with skipper Harley Peace-Stirling crunching 82 not out.
But the visitors were barely in with a sniff, rolled for a bleak 48, with Cooper Thornton (23) contributing almost half the runs for his side.
VICTORIAN SUB-DISTRICT – NORTH/WEST
ROUND 10 (DAY TWO)
What an incredible boost for Endeavour Hills.
The Eagles peeled off one of its more impressive wins in recent memory, holding off Balwyn and securing the points at Gordon Barnard Reserve.
The home side resumed 0/23 after the Eagles could only muster up 105, but the visitors’ pressure with the ball was incredible.
Off the back of ageless veteran Richie Saniga (5/11 off 22.1 overs), the Eagles rolled the home side for 80 in an incredible 78.1 overs, with Brian Kulasena (3/25) also outstanding.
Down at Mount Waverley, Noble Park won a thriller by two wickets.
Chasing 205 for victory, the Parkers got the job done with only a few wickets left in the shed, with Marasinghe Perera (76) backing up his four wickets last week with a brilliant display from the top of the order.
Skipper Luke Wintle (40) and keeper Rayner Seccull (25) were also vital in the win.
