CRICKET
CLV
By LIAM DURKIN
THE ladder was cut in half as the Cricket Latrobe Valley regular season came to an end at the weekend.
Four teams from the two first grade competitions will now take part in the bonus rounds in pursuit of premierships.
Equations were thrown out somewhat given the last round was played as one dayers, following a washout the previous week.
This meant reduced points, and less chance for teams around the midsection of the ladder to catapult further.
In the wash-up, there was little change to the top four in the respective first grade competitions before play commenced.
Ex Students secured another Premier A minor premiership, while Raiders did as predicted in the preseason by doing the same in A Grade.
Morwell had a home final sewn up in Premier A some weeks ago, and will play Glengarry in this weekend’s semi.
The Magpies, also predicably, have come good late since the return of Nat Freitag.
Churchill meanwhile finished a game clear in fourth and equal-third with Glengarry on points.
Some misguided criticism last season surrounded the Cobras, who were promoted after losing the A Grade semi-final.
Having now finished top four in the higher grade with basically the same team, it is clear they were promoted on their own merit.
That Churchill was so dominant in A Grade last season and didn’t even make the Grand Final will serve as a timely reminder to all playing finals this weekend.
As anyone who has played cricket for long enough will tell you: semis are the hardest games to win.
Even Ex Students, winners of the last two premierships, had to put in a block-a-thon for the ages two seasons ago just to make it, after escaping a semi-final with a draw and going through as the higher ranked team.
Just last season, Glengarry won through after getting skittled for 85 on first innings in a semi.
Bowlers tend to dominant finals as batsmen naturally become more defensively minded, not wanting to gift extra overs to the opposition.
Because of this, scores around 200 can often be worth 250.
There is little doubt some players save themselves for finals as well, so don’t be surprised if someone like Freitag or Keenan Hughes at Raiders find an extra yard of pace this weekend.
Much as coaches talk about ‘intensity’, players can afford to operate using ‘selective intensity’ during moments that are inconsequential.
As one great of Gippsland cricket (certainly not short on confidence) rightly said about certain match-ups: “Why would I bowl to him? He’s going to go out anyway.”
Finals usually throw up surprises as well. There seems to always be one bloke who does nothing all season who plays a blinder when it matters most.
Every team has one, the bloke who bats at eight and doesn’t bowl, and gets a game every week because they are unreal value in the sheds or with a story for the warm-up from the night before.
This is also where moments can define a player.
Max Merton has taken a lot of wickets for Glengarry, but his final over six to win the Magpies the 2022/23 flag could well be what he is best remembered for.
Similarly Dale Banks, who nudged his way to 26 of the most important runs in Mirboo North history batting at 10 to chase an impossible 300 total more than 10 years ago.
John Keighran’s 105 in a Churchill score of 137 single-handedly got the Cobras into the 2020/21 Grand Final.
There could yet be a few more surprises, especially when teams are read out on Thursday.
In Merv Hughes’ voice: “pay your subs boys”.
Premier A
Ex Students 8/226 def Centrals 8/177
EX STUDENTS warmed up for finals with an emphatic victory over Centrals.
The match between first and last went largely as expected, although Centrals to their credit didn’t simply throw in the towel even with relegation assured before a ball was bowled.
The Sharks batted first at Apex Park, and closed at 8/226 after the 50 over allotment.
The visitors opted not to change the order to give others a hit, and as such, the usual suspects were the top run scorers.
Michael Stockdale led the way with 77, followed by brother Lee, whose 46 saw him win the league aggregate.
Rick Battista (32) was reliable as ever, while Daniel Trease scored a handy 28 batting at seven.
Workhorse left arm swing bowler Marc Fenech took 4/50, and will now presumably spend most of winter hibernating, partaking in his favourite pastime, playing computer games.
Centrals made 8/177 in reply, helped mainly by two free-flowing innings from Mark Rawson and Tyron Gamage.
Rawson didn’t muck around, hitting seven fours in his 49, before Gamage, again showing he perhaps should make more runs for a player of his technique, with 44 not out off 38 rocks.
Lions skipper Tye Hourigan scored a patient 28 off 74 balls, and finished the season second to Stockdale on the league runs with 451.
Hourigan shouldered most of the batting for Centrals this season, scoring almost 200 more than the next best. Given his strike rate usually dipped below 50, it is obvious he was under pressure each time he walked to the wicket to not only score, but to take enough time out of the game to make sure his team wasn’t completely blown out of the water.
The Lions had a very tough season, with all three of its senior teams relegated.
Dropping back however may have come at an ideal time.
Centrals has a number of young players, who by all accounts, will be good A Grade players in a number of years, but need to spend some time playing at the next level down.
From a whole club perspective, one assumes the seconds and thirds will also be stronger playing at a more suitable level next season, which will naturally lead to greater club morale and less ‘want a game tomorrow mate?’ phone calls in the pub on a Friday night.
Wickets were shared among the Ex Students bowlers. Fletcher Graham (2/35), Adam Brady (2/44) and Sam Farmer (2/40) all took multiple poles.
Glengarry 6/214 def Traralgon Imperials 10/86
GLENGARRY secured its finals berth at the expense of Imperials.
While a host of hypotheticals were on the cards, at its most basic: the winner played finals.
The Magpies batted first at Fred King Oval, and put up 6/214 after 50 overs.
Nat Freitag rose to the occasion with 74 off 76 balls.
He was caught by Todd Mann, in what was at least the second-best catch of his career at the venue (ask anyone who played in the 2015/16 GCL final and they will say Todd’s catch, sprinting along the boundary and taking it one handed, was up there with the greatest).
Cam Graham (47) and Sam Marks (38) provided an ideal platform, putting on an opening stand of 70.
Aaron Johnstone (2/28), Ryan Morley (2/36) and Mann (2/43) chipped in with wickets for Imperials.
Unfortunately for the visitors, their finals hopes dissipated with barely a yelp, as they were knocked over for 86 inside 40 overs.
Freitag ran riot, taking crazy one day figures of 5/9 off 10 overs, although it was largely Max Merton and Graham who started the implosion, after reducing Imperials to 2/1 – both wickets being Imps’ two best batsmen.
Imperials will be disappointed with how its season ended, especially after winning just one game after Christmas.
After winning the A Grade flag last season though, it can often take a season to get accustomed to the higher grade. The biggest fear for any club gaining promotion is that they will be demoted less than 12 months later. Imps avoided this, and with Mann re-signing, will have reason to go into next season with some confidence their best stacks up.
Churchill 4/115 def Morwell 10/114
HOW much will this result mean over the next two weeks?
Or was it the loss they had to have?
Morwell will go into finals off the back of a pounding against fellow finalists Churchill.
The Cobras put the Tigers away by six wickets, after bowling them out for just 114 at Keegan Street.
Morwell had its full-strength team fielded, yet Tim Ford (56) was the only player to make a contribution of significance.
Churchill has been buoyed by the availability of Kurt Holt in recent weeks, and the bustling quick took the first two wickets of the game to set the Cobras alight.
His opening partner Ryan Ayres also took two wickets, while John Keighran nabbed 3/31.
Ayres (42) and Jordan Higham (29) then got to work with the bat, in an innings where possibly the only talking point was usual wicket-keeper Jordan Campbell taking 1/0.
Morwell will be back at Keegan St for the semi-final, knowing full well this weekend will be vastly different from a last round one day fixture.
The Tigers have seen this movie before (sort of).
Don’t forget, Morwell lost the last round of the 2013 Gippsland League season by 120 points against Sale.
The Tigers then beat the same team by 80 points in the Grand Final.
Toongabbie 8/166 def Moe 10/164
TOONGABBIE denied Moe any chance of playing finals.
The Lions needed a few other results to go its way, but ultimately, defeat to the Rams meant both teams finished outside the top four.
Moe bid adieu to Burrage Reserve Newborough, after being sent in and conjuring up 164.
The home side was in early strife at 3/20, before Benn Zomer and Matt Hibbs took the score past 50.
Both players however fell in quick succession, meaning Toongabbie had another pair of fresh batsmen to bowl to.
Rob Phoenix and Noah Kane got the total toward 150, with the former making 49 off 52 balls and the latter 29.
Gayashan Munasinghe took 5/28, getting late reward for a season where he has bent his back week after week.
The Rams opened with spin at the other end, while the experience of Tom Shippen saw him take 3/24.
The visitors got home amid a flurry of late wickets, going from 2/103 to 8/139 before the winning runs were hit.
Kyle O’Reilly (39), Rob Wheildon (30) and Amal Athulathmudali (29) made scores before the carnage.
Zomer took 4/30, Anu Anubhav 2/18 off 10 and Royce Colgrave 2/50 to finish the season with 28 wickets – the second most of any pace bowler in the competition.
Both teams may already have one eye turned to next season.
Toongabbie will drop back after finishing seventh on the ladder.
While nothing is guaranteed, one imagines the Rams will be very strong in A Grade if they keep the same team together.
Amazingly, the ‘second division’ A Grade could have two former international fast bowlers.
Munasinghe captained the Italian national team, while CATS’ Tinashe Panyangara played Test cricket for Zimbabwe.
Moe meanwhile will obviously be eager to get back to Ted Summerton Reserve.
The Lions relocated its entire club for the summer as ground works at their home base took place.
The move arguably led to battle fatigue, and played some part in Moe losing its last three games.
There can be little doubt the infamous ‘Burrage bounce’ also had an effect.
Andrew Philip is generally regarded as the leading batsman in the league, yet even he only managed 98 runs in five hits at the venue this season.
This was also the first season in living memory Philip did not score a century. (How far back into the books would you have to go to find that? Assumingly not since he was a teenager just starting out in A Grade).
He did however still finish the season with 342 runs, which is what the average club cricketer would count as a ‘good’ season.
Philip usually scores twice as many runs a season, so in layman’s terms, he has been twice as good as the average cricketer for 15 years.
As the great Steve Spoljaric once famously said: “bowlers don’t get me out, only pitches do”.
For those wondering, Spoljaric is nearly 50 and scored 600 runs in Sale-Maffra ones this season.
A Grade
Willow Grove 4/179 def Mirboo North 10/178
RECKON they’re daring to dream?
Surely.
Willow Grove are playing A Grade finals. (Imagine if someone had of told you that two years ago).
The Wolves qualified after beating Mirboo North in the south by six wickets.
Chasing 179, the visitors’ big guns came to the party. Luke Payton whacked 65 off 63 balls, including one monstrous six over fine leg toward the bushland.
Ben Edebohls continued his breakout season with the stick, scoring 44 off 51 at the top, while Nathan Wheildon hung around for 29 not out off 96.
Edebohls took 4/40 earlier in the day, along with Willow Grove loyalists Rob Fiddelaers (2/13) and Darcy Walsh (2/35).
Showing good signs elsewhere was youngster Dylan van der Stoep, who promptly fixed the stumps at the bowlers end after completing a run out.
Ben Heath top-scored for the Tigers with 70, backing up the work of George Fairbairn, who made 28.
Willow Grove will return to Mirboo North for the semi-final clash against Rovers.
Rovers raised a few eyebrows by choosing Mirboo North, yet a club official confirmed the side felt it was a venue the team played well at.
Rovers has also lost its last two games at home this season (including against Willow Grove), and had wanted to play at Toongabbie, yet that venue became unavailable due to the under 16s Grand Final this Friday.
Rovers and Willow Grove will each have no shortage of sentimentality for the finals, as both are on the hunt for long-awaited premierships.
Rovers 9/122 def Traralgon West 8/121
THEY do tend to make it difficult Rovers.
The team from the south side of the train line defeated northern counterpart Traralgon West by one wicket at Jack Canavan.
Both teams will play finals, although whether or not this form has any effect remains an interesting subplot.
The visitors elected to bowl first, and saw the Eagles bat their 50 overs for just 121.
Alfie Peck top-scored with 48, and Josh Monacella 25 off 125 balls.
Traralgon West had finals secured leading into the game, and perhaps wanted to spend some time in the middle.
Still, there was the potential to gain a home final, and the chance to bypass top-side Raiders, yet the Eagles seemed content on getting batting practice in.
Ewan Williams took 4/23 and Mitch Leslie 2/12 for Rovers.
Rovers had to win to make finals, and won through in nerve-killing fashion with just three balls and one wicket to spare.
From 2/69, things quickly took a sharp turn, and before too long, the visitors were 6/106 following the dismissal of James Hayter for 48.
Some tense moments late saw the last three wickets fall for just five runs, yet a timely wide for Rovers got them the win.
Remarkably, Rovers went from potentially not making finals to finishing top two in the space of one non-legal delivery.
Ben Fleming (2/10), Reece Falla (2/29) and Liam Bermingham (2/32) took multiple wickets for Traralgon West.
The Eagles will take on Raiders in the semi-final, who seemingly have all the pressure on them.
As Traralgon West legend Tim Fitch would say (borrowing from Matthew Wade): “They’re nervous, we’re calm”.
Latrobe 5/143 def CATS 10/142
LATROBE finished its season with a win over CATS.
CATS faced the difficult task of needing to win with a bonus point to be any chance of playing finals.
Up against a team like Latrobe, who value defence, this was always going to present a challenge.
The Sharks decided to bowl first at Moe Racecourse, and were given 142 to chase.
CATS skipper Nathan Harrup scored 31 batting at first drop, while Callum Stewart, perhaps emblematic of CATS’ season, made 43 batting at number nine.
Latrobe bowlers to get among the wickets were Ed Hopper (3/11), Rob Webber (3/20), Blake Duncan (2/14) and Jacob Bloomfield (2/22).
The Sharks adopted a ‘slow and steady wins the race’ response, with the old guard of Steven Freshwater scoring 34 not out to guarantee victory with 25 balls to spare.
Rhys Noble made an enterprising 30 off 35 balls, while Hopper dug in for 28 off 120.
Players from both teams now have their weekends back, and can either devote time to the garden or getting in the good books before next season.
Like Moe, Latrobe will be looking forward to getting back to its home deck.
Frustratingly for the Sharks, they were off Peter Siddle Oval for the entire season, after originally being told it was only going to be until Christmas.
If they can’t complete a local ground on schedule, does a Commonwealth Games one have any chance?
Raiders 2/65 def Gormandale 10/61
RAIDERS’ match against Gormandale was almost a non-event.
With one team destined to finish on top and the other on the bottom, the game was done and dusted after just 43 combined overs.
Travelling to Stoddart Oval, the visitors decided to get things over with quickly.
Unleashing Keenan Hughes on the Tigers’ top order, he promptly took 5/9 off eight overs with five maidens to see Gormandale routed for 61.
In somewhat farcical scenes, it was Hughes’ sixth five wicket haul of the season, meaning he ended the regular campaign with 50 scalps.
For any bowler, 30 wickets is generally the sign of a dominant season. To take 50 is incredibly rare, and will likely stand as a record for years to come.
Hughes certainly walked the walk after talking the talk during preseason that he would take at least 40 wickets. Sometimes all you can do is say “hats off”.
George Cheshire played a decent hand as second fiddle, taking 4/6.
Raiders skipper Liam Maynard made sure of the result, batting through for 29 not out.
