LIAM DURKIN
CRICKET
LVDCL A GRADE
By LIAM DURKIN
FINALS-bound teams were decided in Latrobe Valley District Cricket League A Grade on Saturday.
Centrals, Trafalgar, Traralgon West and Mirboo North are mathematically assured of playing in the semi-final.
The only question now is: Who will finish where?
Round 14 action saw one-day matches played across the board, after rain washed out the first week.
As four teams may now have one eye turned to finals, there is still challenges to negotiate in the two games left in the regular season, not least of which is a Saturday/Sunday fixture this weekend.
With a host of players currently taking part in Country Week, it will be interesting to see how well they go backing up.
For bowlers especially, the toss could be a big gamble on Saturday. If it falls a certain way, it may allow them an extra day to put their feet up.
There is a possibility some will have played six days of cricket in seven days by Sunday night.
Get those ice baths ready.
TRAFALGAR took a huge stride toward securing a top-two finish.
The Ships defeated Centrals by 33 runs in a battle between first and second.
Taking to Racecourse Turf, the visiting Lions fancied their chances bowling first, and decided to do just that after winning the toss.
Trafalgar was looking to do the same, but as it turned out, it was a good toss to lose as they ended up compiling 204 from their allotted 50 overs.
Centrals clearly thought the overhead conditions that greeted them when the coin was flicked would lead to more swing, however, within the first 10 overs, captain Tye Hourigan was already forced to make a bowling change.
Ships’ openers Aiden George and Liam White laid a strong foundation, putting on 61.
George scored 39 off 52 balls, with his innings highlighted by a stylish lofted cover drive that raced to the fence.
He was however given some good fortune, with a sharp caught behind chance off left arm spinner Joe Stuart put down, and a celebrappeal resulting in a dot ball.
Centrals fought back admirably after moments like these went against them, and were able to change the complexity of the game thanks to a triple-wicket strike across two overs.
Hourigan led the way, first inducing an edge from White, before knocking over George and then opposite number Aydan Connolly for a first-baller.
At that stage, Trafalgar was 3/78. The Ships lost another on the way to drinks, leaving the match precariously placed.
During the middle stages, the wicket showed its first signs of deterioration, which had some feeling a score of 150 would be defendable.
The Ships however didn’t panic, and just continued to play cricket.
Rhys Holdsworth was well and truly set by this time, and was joined by Riley White, who stayed for a 66-run partnership.
By his own admission, White had “never had so much luck” with the bat, but his 43-ball stay enabled Trafalgar to set their sights on a score over 200.
At the other end, Holdsworth was placing the ball expertly, and having got to 69 with 10 overs to go, a century was well and truly on the cards.
In classic local cricket style, he signalled to the dugout during his innings. The Trafalgar No. 10, thinking he wanted new gloves, ran a pair out, only for Holdsworth to tell him the location of his car keys and get him to move his car because the glare was shining right into his eyes. (Club cricket problem 74)
His innings came to a strange end, after stepping inside a delivery to work it fine, only for Centrals wicket-keeper Ben Doble to take a very good catch down the leg side.
Having played the shot he wanted only for it to bring about his demise, it was a case of the operation being a success but the patient dying.
Hourigan ended with four wickets, three of which were bowled, while left arm orthodox Joe Stuart returned very tidy figures of 1/24 off 10 overs.
Trafalgar was able to create enough dot ball pressure when Centrals came out to bat, as the Lions opted to sit on a number of balls before trying to blast a boundary.
This led to six of the seven wickets to fall coming via catches either in the deep or skied in the ring.
The youngest player on the Ships’ team, Owen McLeod-Agland, took a great catch to get things going, holding his nerve to take a ball that was hit so high it came down with snow on it.
Connolly got some revenge on Hourigan, throwing down the stumps from a straight-ish cover to see him run out, leaving Centrals 3/46.
Mark Rawson, playing his first match since November, came in next, and as always, threatened to be the match-winner.
The man who makes the best-looking 20s of all time did exactly that, getting to 23 off 26 balls before finding his nemesis in the field – Brodie Burgess at gully.
Not for the first time, Burgess caught Rawson, although this time, it wasn’t quite as spectacular.
With that dismissal, the Ships were able to spread the field and essentially kill the game, as the run-rate got up into double digits.
Riley White took catch-of-the-day on the mid-wicket fence to see the back of Reghard Hefer, much to the relief of Trafalgar players after his four-bomb effort the last time the two sides met.
White made good ground, coming in off the fence to complete the task. The downward force of the ball almost buried him in the turf underneath.
That catch gave Daniel Heathcote his third wicket. By sheer coincidence, Heathcote’s figures of 3/47 were identical to the last time he played Centrals.
Jackson Noonan was rewarded with two wickets, taking poles in separate spells. Noonan and fellow new ball bowler Zack Brown did an exceptional job, going for just 25 and 23 runs respectively from 10 overs each.
Centrals closed the innings with 171 on the board.
While the result was not ideal, the Lions are likely to take some positives out of the match.
Centrals have put together strong performances in the two-day format this season, and, given finals are played in whites, they could be quietly confident of catching a team like Trafalgar off-guard.
Amazingly, the two sides have not met in a two-dayer since 2019/20.
The Lions may also look at Wayne Henry’s effort last Saturday, and hope it ignites a return to form for the opening bat.
Henry, who has had a horrid time with the bat this season (five globes in 11 hits) batted for most of the innings, making a gritty 48.
Trafalgar meanwhile, needs to keep winning to make their top-two aspirations a reality.
The Ships have not lost a game since the second week of December. Their form has no doubt been helped by a drastic improvement in their fielding, specifically their catching, since then.
For a three-week period before getting on their winning streak, Trafalgar had a drop-rate of at least four sitters per game.
After the third consecutive week of it happening, and with first year captain Connolly understandably hesitant to call out senior players, sources have confirmed Holdsworth got up in a team meeting and said “just say it”.
The honesty session looks to have been the first step toward improvement.
MIRBOO NORTH made it back-to-back wins.
The Tigers ventured to Jack Canavan Oval to take on Traralgon West, and returned with a decent percentage boost following a seven wicket win.
The visitors also secured a bonus point for their efforts.
Mirboo North elected to bowl first after winning the toss, and were able to strike at regular intervals.
The Eagles’ innings was plagued by a number of players getting starts – three of the top four all got to 20 before coming unstuck.
Traralgon West was in a position where they were ready to launch at 2/67, however, the engines well and truly failed just as they started the countdown to lift-off.
From that position, the home side completely fell apart, losing their next three wickets for 10 runs, and last five for just nine.
Rami Zafar was one of four players to contribute a score in the 20s, but his 25 out of a total of 108 only highlighted the side’s shortcomings.
All Mirboo North bowlers contributed wickets, with captain Jed Alexander taking four of them.
Young gun Max Woodall nabbed two, as did Zac Hollis.
Swing King Anton Thomas gave very little away, taking 1/10 off 10 overs, half of which were maidens.
The Tigers then put in a professional display with the bat, recovering after a poor start to chase the total with little fuss.
Mirboo North suffered a slight hiccup, actually two, after stumbling to 2/7, but from there, the wise head of Principal Pedlow (Brett), was able to steer the team out of danger.
Pedlow batted through the innings, and remained not out on 60.
Luke Corry supported the main run-scorer, seeing off 74 balls in a 66-run stand for the third wicket.
Traralgon West threw the ball around trying to find an answer, but only Reece Falla, who took the opening two wickets, was able to make much of an impression.
The result keeps Mirboo North well on track to secure a home final, and they are now only one game, in terms of wins, off top-side Centrals.
Despite having a finals position sewn up, there is surely worrying signs for the Eagles, who have now lost four of their last five.
JEERALANG-BOOLARRA notched its second win for the season.
The Panthers got the job done in a competitive game against Willow Grove.
Although both teams were well out of finals contention, the match presented probably the last opportunity for either side to go into a game entertaining thoughts of a win.
The Wolves batted first on their hard deck, and made a pretty good recovery after falling to 4/21.
Lachlan Smith took the first two wickets to fall, while Ben Heath executed a direct hit run out to have the visitors cock-a-hoop early.
Willow Grove then got to work rebuilding the innings, and was able to do so through the work of Josh Coombs, Josh Hammond and Pete Grima.
Coombs continued to show the application required of an A Grade batsman, making a stoic 35, partnering with Grima in an 87-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Grima showed his experience, and brought up a fine half-century, helping the home team to a total of 171.
Jeeralang-Boolarra shared the wickets, and were lively in the field, executing four run outs.
Smith was the best performer, snaring 2/28 off eight overs.
The Panthers took the chase into the last 10 overs, opting to play it safe to make sure of the result.
Willow Grove may have been thinking a sneaky win was on the cards when the scoreboard read 3/48, but alas, Jeeralang-Boolarra key players Heath and Nila Thillekarathna got the visitors home with unbeaten knocks of 69 and 58 respectively.
The former struck five fours in his innings, and the latter eight, including one maximum.
