LIAM DURKIN and TOM HAYES
CRICKET
LVDCL PREMIER A By LIAM DURKIN AND TOM HAYES IF we’re behind then never mind, We’ll fight and fight and win. Morwell Cricket Club certainly did as its club song says in the Latrobe Valley District Cricket League Premier A Grand Final. In fact, the Tigers did it across the entire finals series. Morwell was behind for a large part of the Grand Final against Raiders. But, they fought, and fought, and eventually, won the highest premiership on offer in the LVDCL. The Tigers needed a reverse outright just to make the decider. They needed one of the greatest bowling performances of all time to win it. Warrior all-rounder Brendan Brincat capped off what is surely his finest hour playing in the yellow and black, taking 7/55, across 37.4 back-breaking overs. By the time he’d taken his sixth wicket, he barely had the stamina to run and join his teammates in celebration. There was no need to keep bowling when he took his seventh a short time later though, for that was the wicket that secured the premiership for Morwell. Jubilation must have overcome any physical exhaustion in that moment, as Tigers players rushed to the middle of Ted Summerton Reserve, before joining joyous supporters and club mates on the boundary’s edge. What followed was a near all-club affair, as Morwell’s premiership winning second grade side was there alongside the recently crowned Premier A premiers. It was Tiger Time baby; although events in the hours leading up to that moment on Sunday very nearly saw the Tiger Train derailed. Raiders needed just 40 runs to win with six wickets in hand, and with plenty of time in which to do it. ‘Just knock em’ around boys’. However, then came a collapse for the ages. Raiders skipper Liam Maynard departed for 35, adjudged lbw to Ross Whelpdale. From there, the scriptwriter handed things over to Brincat. Brincat ended up taking the remaining five wickets, adding to the two he took at the top of the order, bookending a truly remarkable Grand Final. From 4/127, Raiders were all out for 146. Morwell had successfully defended a first innings total of 166. Raiders had lost 6/19. The dismissal of Maynard proved critical, and Morwell was able to take the wickets of Alex Burcombe and the dangerous Madura Perera not long after, leaving the match on a knifes edge at 7/132. Key Raiders batsman Mick Higgins was still in at this stage, and threatened to be the difference, having played a patient hand of 27 off 100 balls. With three wickets needed and 34 runs in the bank, most at the ground knew it would be all on Higgins to bat with the tail if Raiders were to get over the line. Brincat was the man for the occasion however, taking the first of the last three wickets, and then enticing Higgins to go after a drive, getting a knick into the gloves of skipper Jordan Campbell From there, the percentages were with Morwell. An appeal for lbw seemed to drag on for an eternity. Umpire Dale Ireland had a long think, before eventually raising his finger, officially starting the Morwell celebrations. Almost 170 overs had been completed up to that point, which started when Campbell elected to bat first upon winning the toss. Opening pair Sam Mooney and Mark Cukier were only able to draft 10 runs to the score before they were both dismissed for four and six runs respectively. Blair Clymo was next to depart after making 15, with the score sitting at 3/29. The middle order continued to make quick runs before walking back to the sheds, as Whelpdale, Brendan Mason and Campbell all combined for 36 runs, resulting in the score sitting at 6/92. Despite the scoreboard, the Tigers’ depth has been a hallmark this season, and it showed in the Grand Final. Blake Mills made 31 batting at seven, while Brincat and Greg Harvey also contributed well, making 28 and 33 respectively. The wicket of Brincat brought up Perera’s five wicket haul, as he finished with figures of 5/84 from 29 overs. Other wicket takers were George Chesire with three and Harry McColl with two. Before the end of play on Day 1, Raiders survived well enough until stumps, however they did lose the sole wicket of Chris Stanlake for 16. At the completion of Day 1, Raiders sat at 1/49, well and truly in the drivers’ seat. Day 2 arrived and the overcast weather would’ve been a welcomed change compared to the heat from the first day. Ben Burrows departed early, clean bowled by Brincat from a delivery that kept low. Burkeley MacFarlane came and went in quick succession, caught and bowled by Mills. Chesire compiled 40 runs in a well-worked innings, but Cukier got the better of him as he was caught behind by Campbell. After four wickets had fallen, Raiders required another 78 runs, and just as the scales began to balance, Raiders put their best foot forward for the fifth-wicket. Maynard and Higgins went on to pile nearly 40 runs, putting Raiders back in the best seat to take the premiership. Then all hell broke loose. Maynard departed, and the rest followed. Unsurprisingly, Brincat was awarded player of the match for his seven wickets and crucial 28 runs on Day 1 – the runs playing something of a secondary role to his heroics with the four piece in hand. His figures were the fourth best by a Morwell player in an A Grade Grand Final, while his 37.4 overs were the most ever bowled by a Morwell player in a Grand Final. Calls to ‘build the man a statue’ at the presentation rang loud and true. Brincat joined a number of players in the Morwell line-up as dual premiership players, along with Campbell, Mills, Mooney and Lachlan Day, who all played in the Tigers’ last triumph in 2017/18. Mark Cukier also played in that premiership, while Sunday meant he achieved the rare distinction of winning a first grade flag for Morwell exactly 20 years after winning his first one (in 2002/03). Connor Seymour wasn’t even alive then, but as the youngest member of the team, looks to have a great future ahead of him. Seymour came of age in the second half of the season. He had only bowled eight overs up until Christmas; when he came back, he was knicking off top order batsman. His younger brother Josh and dad Paul ‘Boof’ Seymour were part of the B Grade premiership the previous day. The Express’ own Barb Seymour was one proud aunty on Monday morning. English import Greg Harvey looked the most emotional, appearing to break down in tears of joy in the moments following the win. Blair Clymo entered a unique part of the record books, joining his mother Simone as a Morwell premiership player. There wouldn’t be too many mother/son premiership combinations at a cricket club out there. Morwell Cricket Club statistician Mark Smith surely has the answer as far as Morwell CC is concerned. He’s probably already updated the history books to include the Tigers’ 2022/23 Premier A and Premier B flags. Club president Craig Giddens, who brought up double figures by winning his 10th premiership in B Grade, arranged an impromptu group photo of firsts and seconds players, leading the club in song to toast a truly momentous occasion. There wouldn’t have been too many happier men in Gippsland, maybe even Victoria, than Giddo on Sunday night. While premiership-winning captain Campbell was being interviewed post-game, Giddens chimed in briefly, describing him as an “awesome leader”. Campbell said it was a great feeling to see so many people at the club enjoying success and said the side was confident, even after posting a modest first innings score. “I said it to the boys five years ago when we won it, we were in a similar position against Mirboo North, I always knew with the bowling attack we’ve got and the pressure we create, I always thought we were a chance, I always believe in us,” he said. “There is always concern when you are three-fa (not many), but we bat really deep. We have Greg Harvey at nine, Brendan Brincat at eight, we know we bat deep. We’ve been in trouble before and got ourselves out of it, Connor Seymour at 11 has made an A Grade 50. “The wicket was good, perfect, the facilities are great. It was just a flat wicket, both teams were probably disappointed with how many they got, I know I was disappointed with 160-odd.” As Day 2 unfolded, Campbell felt one moment was decisive in helping swing momentum back in favour for the Tigers. “They were in the box seat, when we got Liam Maynard I thought ‘this is a chance’, then we got the English lad (Alex Burcombe) not long after, I always knew we had an end to bowl at,” he said. And a few words on a man named Brincat? “He’s a superstar. He’s been so good for so long, and just proves it. He’s done both calves but just keeps soldering in, the guy is a superstar and deserves everything he gets,” Campbell said. “It’s unbelievable, we’ve worked so hard as a club the last few years and just proven it, club championship, A and B Grade (in grand finals), C Grade just missed out. “The depth is unbelievable, you got through the B Grade, Rob Semmler, Kris Fortuin, Trav Pickering, Luke Gettings, Glen Gniel, they are all A Grade players, it just proves where we are at as a club, our social side definitely helps that, it just keeps bringing people back.” While people might joke about Morwell being a poorly designed town due to its multiple CBDs, there can be no doubt about one thing: It’s a very well designed cricket club. For LVDCL lower grade premiers, turn to Page 37.
