By Russell Bennett
WGCA PREMIER DIVISION
REVIEW – SEMI-FINALS
The wet weather has long been the bane of existence for cricketers the world over.
But come finals’ time, that frustration can be magnified tenfold.
Most teams and their leaders can handle losing fairly and squarely – being beaten head-to-head in a gentleman’s game.
It’s not often easy to stomach, no loss is. But at least it’s laid out in black and white.
What’s sickening for most is that feeling of being robbed – the feeling that at least the opportunity of fighting for win was taken away.
And that’s exactly what teams across the district were experiencing on Saturday.
Sides fight out whole seasons for those all-important ladder positions, so in case of rain washing out a contest they can be split as fairly as possible.
When first plays fourth (as is usually the case in the WGCA), or even second, the higher ranked side will advance to the following round if that particular clash can’t be played.
That’s always been the situation in the absence of a reserve day, and those reserve days are typically only reserved for grand finals.
But when a season is transformed into a fully one-day campaign, with Sundays free through the finals, it makes finals wash-outs that much harder to understand.
Saturday’s wet weather was forecast almost a week out. Everyone knew it was coming, and likely to ruin Saturday’s play.
Sunday’s forecast was much brighter but, yet, wasn’t utilised for what could have been a reserve day.
Reserve days prior to grand finals typically aren’t the done thing, but community sporting seasons through the Covid-19 pandemic have had to break the mould in all sorts of ways.
On Saturday, Cardinia and Kooweerup may well have gone on to win their blockbuster finals over Tooradin and Merinda Park respectively, but the question has to be asked: what if.
After being sent in to bat at home in front of a fascinated crowd against their great neighbouring rivals the Gulls, the Bulls were in all sorts.
Their much-improved top and middle order batting was exposed to fantastic spell from Tooradin star Russ Lehman (4/17) as the Bulls staggered to 5/32 with the loss of player-coach Bradey Welsh for 11.
But that’s the thing about this year’s Bulls lineup – their newfound depth doesn’t just include their top and middle orders. It goes right throughout the group – with both bat and ball.
On Saturday, it was the middle and lower orders that stood tallest – starting with impressive young all-rounder Matt Welsh (21).
The scarcely-utilised Nathan Volpe (an off-season recruit from Langwarrin along with Jake Prosser and Leigh Paterson) showed a wise, calm head with his 38 – occupying the crease at a vital stage – while Paterson and Bulls favourite son Ricky Campbell added 21 and 26 of their own respectively.
All four players were instrumental in the Bulls posting 8/145 from their 40 overs before the persistent ran became heavier, and brought about the end of the contest before the Gulls could mount their response.
What could have been a devastating collapse at one point, leaving the door ajar for the Gulls, amounted in a shut-out – leaving the ladder-leading Bulls to advance to the grand final, with the right to host it.
It’s no secret that Cardinia’s picturesque surrounds isn’t typically conducive to high-scoring, due in no small part to the ground’s lush outfield.
And on Saturday that’s what made the Bulls’ total so impressive.
While they lost wickets at steady intervals through the opening stages of their innings, they still stayed positive and looked to score.
That allowed their middle and lower orders time to occupy the crease, build an innings and, ultimately, bat out the full 40 overs.
As has so often been the case this season in the fully one-day WGCA campaign, it’s not necessarily about going out on the attack and setting a high total for the opposition to chase – it’s about batting out the allotted overs.
So many games have been decided in the closing stages after the first side to bet left valuable deliveries left un-faced.
While 145 is hardly a world-beating total from 40 overs in normal circumstances, finals games aren’t “normal circumstances”.
Any total is that much harder to chase when it’s all on the line, and these Bulls have shown they’ve got the ability to set a competitive target through all sorts of different contributors – not just their more recognised batting stars.
The rain had already set in just after 3pm on Saturday with the Bulls on 6/110 at the time, but they could close out their innings before conditions worsened.
At that point, the Gulls worked feverishly through the break to dry the pitch and the creases… but it was all to no avail.
The Gulls get another chance to advance to the decider this week – their season is absolutely still well alive – but the Bulls would be heartened by what they produced in just half a game in the crucial semi-final stage.
At Kooweerup, the clash between the Demons and the Cobras brought with it just as much intrigue – perhaps more.
The knockout clash pitted the powerhouse Kooweerup against this season’s feel-good story – the surprise packet Cobras.
That’s not to sell Merinda Park short, though.
The side thoroughly deserved its finals place, and looked every bit the finalist for the majority of the season.
And they proved it by knocking off the reigning premiers twice – in both Round 6 and Round 13.
After winning the toss and batting on Saturday, they lost star opener Daniel McCalman cheaply to some sharp work in the gully from Demons favourite son Chris ‘Tubsy’ O’Hara, while Jess Mathers and Luke McMaster combined to dismiss McCalman’s opening partner Jordan Bertrand for the first wicket of the contest.
But from 2/13, the Cobras rallied through a telling 85-run stand between two of their biggest stars of their campaign – Manny Goraya (36) and Priyantha Kumara (49).
They took the innings from a seemingly precarious 2/13 to a strong 2/97 before Goraya fell, followed by Kumara – both to the spin of Matt Bright (2/28). At that point, the game was clearly destined for a washout – with the Demons to advance.
But it felt like the Cobras deserved more.
They were left on 5/123 when the game was abandoned after just 29 overs of their innings.
Who’s to say what was in store next. Odds are that the Demons could have torn through the rest of the order in quick succession and mounted a convincing chase… but then there’s that question again: what if.
There’s simply no doubting the Demons deserve their place in the final three, but the Cobras could still rightly feel hard done by.
