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**It’s great that umpires in the WGCA have a handle on the rule book, but players and spectators were left scratching their heads on Saturday when Rule 41.5 – Deliberate, Distraction, Deception, or Obstruction of Batsman, was applied in the Premier Division grand final. In Tooradin’s 29th over, man-of-the-match Russ Lehman pushed a straight drive past bowler Travis Wheller, with Bulls’ fielder Lachlan Volpe making a diving attempt to field the ball. Umpire Ashley Clements deemed it a deceitful attempt and smacked a five-run penalty on the unsuspecting Bulls’ fielder. Thankfully common sense was applied at the tea-break and, after Bulls’ skipper Jake Prosser fired in a protest, the five-run penalty was quickly, and quite rightly, removed. The rule only came into play in 2017 and it would doubtful if it has ever been used in any level of community cricket before. But it is grand final day and a great time for those who like to be noticed to pull out the big guns!
**We can’t believe we’re actually talking about Rule 41.5 again, but the decision to enforce it did have some repercussions and cause some angst. WGCA President Rob Hansen was pro-active during the tea break, trying to search for answers, and attempted to chime in while umpires Clements and Michael Meeng were addressing the two captains. Hansen was quickly given his marching orders, with arm-raising and finger pointing from Clements, right in front of the crowd, making it clear what side of the fence he thought Hansen should be standing on. Now that’s it on that saga…we’ve probably half-filled somebody’s scrap book!
**PAKENHAM Cricket Club President Phil Anning is a great community leader, but the recent decision to help raise funds for an interstate football club might be his greatest gesture yet. For every beer sold over the last few weeks the Lions raised a $1 for the SANDGATE HAWKS in Queensland, who had their facilities devasted by flood waters. Pakenham legend Eddie Lewis has a strong connection with the Hawks, hence the reason for helping. A tidy sum of $957 was deposited into the Hawks bank account, which not only shows the generosity of Pakenham…but gives an insight into their beer consumption!
**While on PAKENHAM, congratulations go out to one of the nicest guys in the WGCA, Les Jones, who turned 60 on Saturday. Jones was hoping to celebrate with a premiership, with his Lions taking on CARDINIA in the WGCA F Grade grand final at Gunton Oval…but things didn’t quite turn out that way. Anyway Les, forget the cricket mate, and just sit back and enjoy the fact that now you’ll get discounts with your Senior’s Card!
**The TOORADIN CRICKET CLUB has a great culture, and part of that can be traced back to the never-ending efforts of club stalwart Barry Freeman. Whether it be helping out with juniors, or just doing odds and ends around the club, Freeman has never waivered in his quest to make Tooradin a better place. Given all that, it was great to Seagulls’ captain Cal O’Hare pull a medal out of his pocket and give Freeman a special call out after the game. Well done, Barry…and well-done Seagulls!
**Pretty much everything went right for TOORADIN on Saturday, but the pre-game national anthem is probably the only thing the Gulls need to work on as they begin preparations for back-to-back flags next year. A fortnight ago the semi-final anthem was delayed, while the first few bars of our national song were repeated twice on the weekend. You could tell edgy competitors, like Jake Prosser and Russ Lehman, weren’t too impressed by the added delay!
**While on Jake Prosser, it’s great to see that he has signed on as captain of the CARDINIA CRICKET CLUB for a further season. Prosser has close ties with LANGWARRIN in the MPCA and the lure of going back to his former club does have some allure. But, for now, we can expect that famous competitive edge to be leading the culture at Gunton Oval for at least one more season.
**A week is a long time in cricket and CARDINIA leg-spinner Lachie Volpe has found that out the hard way over the last fortnight. Volpe was the hero of the Bulls’ epic preliminary final run-chase against KOOWEERUP, but things didn’t go according to plan on Saturday. He was penalised five runs for deceptive fielding, which was later over-turned, before sustaining a quad injury while in the field. To cap things off, he then made a golden-duck, trapped in front by man-of-the-match Russ Lehman. Understandably frustrated, Volpe took those frustrations out on his cricket bat, which could be seen, minus a handle, leaning against a wall as dark descended on Westernport Oval on Saturday.
**Seriously, it must be the biggest hit to have not cleared the pickets in the history of the WGCA. CARDINIA batter Leigh Paterson struck an absolute thunderbolt on Saturday – clearly six on any other ground in the WGCA – but was caught on the boundary by Russ Lehman to end the Bulls’ hopes of victory. The range finder will be out this week…and we’re going to measure the distance that the punished white Kookaburra did travel.
**A special shout-out to GAMEFACE commentator Dan Lonergan for the wonderful job he did heading the live-stream broadcast at Tooradin on Saturday. The former ABC commentator is the best in the business at doing his homework, spending hours and hours on end to make sure he is up to scratch with all the goings on at cricket and football clubs around the region. The WGCA has been fortunate to have Lonergan on board, and hopefully the relationship with GAMEFACE continues to build over the coming years.
**Word in on the street is a Master-Blaster will feature in suburban cricket next season.
**There was a lot of tension in one playing camp at one grand final on the weekend, but it was swiftly broken with a cracking joke. Lesson learned for one reporter: don’t wear a MILWAUKEE BUCKS tee walking through the SPRINGVALE SOUTH players section in a game featuring the BLOODS great rivals… the BUCKS.
**Hold onto your hat here…THREE-TIME league medal winner LUKE HEWITT is likely to leave HASTINGS for SORRENTO. Now this has repercussions bigger than you’d think. Hewitt’s two brothers are tipped to not play with him leaving and then three others are expected to leave the ones. IF HASTINGS – which has two teams – can’t field two XI’s it will be forced to drop into the A1 competition of the MPCA… meaning TYABB will go up from SUB-DISTRICT to DISTRICT, leaving a bye in SUBBIES… now if you can all remember, the bye was a key reason DEVON MEADOWS was knocked back from the league last year. Now that’s a long winded snick with plenty of if’s, but IF the circumstances come to the fore, will the MPCA come back to the PANTHERS…
**JEROME JONES and DJ WATSON will be straight back into the BUCKLEY RIDGES side next year, which is expected to retain all but one player. The Bucks will be back at the pointy end again.
**Beware of the FROGBOX. VICTORIAN player JAKE FRASER-MCGURK was caught undone saying some pretty average remarks about his opposition on Saturday when he walked off the ground. Modern day living, words are like bullets out of a gun, once they’re out there, there is no bringing ‘em back.
