By Marcus Uhe
Falling by four runs to Prahran. Unable to take the last two wickets against Dandenong. A five-run loss to Fitzroy-Doncaster.
It’s been a season of heartbreak on many occasions for Casey South-Melbourne in Premier Cricket.
Last year’s grand finalists have played consistent cricket throughout, but have let slip a number of critical contests along the way.
But a return to the longer form of the game meant a return to winning ways for the Bloods, who claimed a prized-scalp with a win over Melbourne at Casey Fields in their two-day fixture on the weekend.
Skipper Michael Wallace said the relief was evident throughout the group.
“Everyone was over the moon to finally get across the line in the close one,” Wallace said
“We’ve been winning the close one in the T20s, but during the season the close ones have cost us on the ladder.
“Yesterday it was a great win, especially after they had declared.”
Sending Melbourne in on a flat wicket, left arm seamer Jackson Fry was relentless in the first session, not conceding a run in his first spell.
When he removed Melbourne opener Blake Thomson for four, feathering a catch to Devin Pollock’s awaiting gloves, he had a wicket to his name before he had conceded a run.
Melbourne couldn’t find the boundary until an edge through the cordon went for four at the end of the ninth over, but the Bloods weren’t able to turn their tight lines into wickets.
The heavy lifting fell on the shoulders of left-arm spinner Luke Shelton, who sent down 26 overs to finish with figures of 4-97.
When Melbourne declared at 6-335, Wallace said they were happy with their effort with the ball.
“We knew a little bit over the 300 mark, we were happy with that, trying to chase that on a slow deck on the Sunday,” he said.
“The quicks came in all day and ‘Shelts’ as the spinner bowled over 20 overs and really kept it down for us.
“We worked really hard throughout the day on a flat wicket, both Saturday and Sunday.
“We probably had a couple too many four-balls, and on a wicket like that if you miss your length a little, it did go away.”
At 2-21, their confidence would have waned, with Ashley Chandrasinghe and Atharv Deshpande both dismissed early for single-figure scores.
It brought Wallace to the crease with young star Harrish Kannan, who settled-in for a big afternoon.
Their 249-run stand set a new club record for the third wicket, eclipsing the previous best of 217 set 75 years ago, as Kannan scored his maiden century in Premier Cricket to continue his excellent season, and Wallace added 140 in a true captain’s knock.
For Wallace, it’s one that he will look back on fondly.
“I really enjoyed it, not coming in at 2/20 but batting with Harrish and just trying to work really hard with him for as long as we could,” he said.
“We knew wickets in hand were going to be the key going into the last session so we tried to work together for as long as we could, and the runs kept flowing.
“Because they were trying to take wickets, they had an aggressive field, so there were gaps and the runs kept flowing.
“I really enjoyed being there for Harrish’s first hundred, it was a great moment to be a part of and I’m really happy for him, so it’s definitely up there as one of my favourite knocks.”
When Kannan was removed, he and his skipper had lifted their side to 3/270 with victory in sight.
But his wicket precipitated the beginning of a minor collapse of 3/8, as two more wickets, including the prized scalp of Wallace, fell in the next over.
It was left to Pollock, Lachlan Sperling and Shelton, the hero with the ball, to guide the Bloods home in a victory that keeps their finals chances alive.
Sitting in 11th just four points behind Ringwood, there’s optimism that they can make another run similar to last year’s.
Wallace, however, knows nothing will come easy in the remainder of the season.
“We have to win our last three to make finals but we feel like we’re good enough to do that, if we play our cricket the way we can,” he said.
“It doesn’t always go that way, the result, but as long as we can play the way we know we can, we can definitely make finals, but we’ve got some good teams to come up against in the next few weeks and we’ve just to go play as we can and see where it takes us.
“If we get to finals and we can get on a roll again like we did last year, then who knows, but there’s a lot of works to go before that’s actually the case.”
Meanwhile, Dandenong Cricket Club shook-off a significant week at Shepley Oval by winning their two-day game at Greenvale.
A disappointing season for the Panthers in Premier Cricket saw head coach Warren Ayres fall on his sword on Friday afternoon, 20 January, with immediate effect.
In a statement on Friday night, the club paid tribute to Ayres’ service, describing him as an “outstanding leader” across two terms at Dandenong.
“The Dandenong Cricket Club would like to thank Warren Ayres, who has this afternoon stood down as head coach, effective immediately,” the club said.
“In his first tenure he led the club to its first XI premiership, and later guided the first XI in the 20/21 season to a Grand Final.
“Warren has been a strong mentor and provided a wealth of knowledge during the transitional phase at the club.
“In the past two years he has taken a strong interest in the future development, through our Pattinson Academy and Dowling Shield programs.”
Ayres joined Dandenong ahead of the 2002/03 season as captain coach, guiding the club to its first premiership in 2006/07.
He returned as head coach in 2020, leading the Panthers to an unlikely run to the Grand Final in 2020-21 despite finishing the regular season seventh on the table, but was unable to recapture the magic of that first season back in the head coaching role in later years.
Ayres was contacted but chose not to comment on the matter.
Assistant coach Glenn Marinic filled the breach, leading the side to a victory in their first two-day game in years.
Bowling first, they kept Greenvale to 8-291 from 93 overs.
All-rounder Matthew Wilson took 3-75, including two in the 43rd over, while right arm quick Braden Taeuber and spinner Sahan Perera grabbed two wickets each.
Openers Brett Forsyth (75) and Tom Donnell (93) put on 164 for the first wicket, before Donnell was joined at the crease by Perera.
Despite watching Donnell, Joshua Slater, Max Marinic and Wilson all depart in a short space of time, he remained calm to steer the chase home on 76 not out in the 84th over.
The result lifts them off the bottom of the table to 16th, ahead of Greenvale and Kingston Hawthorn.
In the women’s competition, Essendon Maribyrnong Park (EMP) was 17 runs too strong for Dandenong’s women’s side.
Backing themselves to bat first, EMP put 193 on the board despite three wickets to Emma Gallagher and miserly spells from Hannah Merritt and skipper Linsey Smith.
Lucy Cripps led the way with the bat with 48, but no-one was able to go on with their starts which ultimately cost the Panthers, who now sit sixth, a point outside the four, as the end of the season draws near.
