By Jonty Ralphsmith
Devon Meadows captain Lucas Ligt has heaped praise on coach Chris Cleef, who bowled the Panthers to victory against Tooradin on Saturday in the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association’s Premier Competition.
The hosts set the Seagulls 271 for victory in round 4 with Cleef’s offies netting him 7/88 from 30.2 overs.
The experienced tweaker was metronomic before tea and built significant pressure going into the break with the wicket of set batter and run-scoring machine Cal O’Hare.
But it was his indefatigable spell when he switched ends after tea which surged his side to a potentially season-defining upset win over Tooradin.
Cleef bowled unchanged after the break, with his economy rate across his first 20 overs hovering at about two, which built pressure, and led to a collapse.
The Seagulls lost 5/11, with Cleef taking the key wickets of O’Hare, Tom Hussey and Mick Sweeney to stall the chase.
“He’s the hardest person I have ever faced and I hate facing him in the nets,” Ligt said.
“I think that’s one thing teams will find this year – you can’t leave more to do later in the day against him because the more he gets in, the harder he is to score off.
“As soon as that rate climbs, you can’t get after him.
“He bowls so tight and makes you have to play at the ball but it’s flat enough where you can’t get under it.
“I haven’t seen anyone get him away consistently and I don’t think I will.”
Cleef then took the last four wickets as his disciplined red ball lines and lengths gave batters nothing to work with and forced them to take risks as the required run rate got above six for an extended period.
Having been seen predominantly in one-day fixtures in recent years as he balances family and work life, Cleef proved he’ll be a key cog in a spin-heavy attack for the Panthers this season.
“Early on we just wanted to keep the rate climbing,” Ligt said.
“It got into the fours.
“It sat at four-ish for a while and we were just like ‘let it build’ and as soon as the wickets started falling and the run rate climbed towards sixes, it was just about cutting the boundary ball.
“We quickly wanted to establish where batters’ boundaries were going to come and block that.”
Jakeb McVicar and Ben Marsh are other members of the slow bowling brigade but both were missing on Saturday, highlighting the importance of Cleef’s spell.
After a solid but unrewarded opening spell, Coby Podd bowled some important overs after tea to allow Cleef to lock in.
The right arm quick finished with 2/46 off 17.
It came after Ricky Mitchell’s 1/30 off 15, predominantly before tea, with his accuracy applying scoreboard pressure once the wickets started falling, with the seamer nabbing the first breakthrough.
“That’s the best (Coby’s) probably bowled for the club,” Ligt said.
“With the depth in bowlers we’ve got, it allowed him to just come in and bowl.
“We talked about the areas to hit and executing that was the focus.
“But there isn’t the focus of having to start well – if it doesn’t work, it’s okay and that reduced pressure helped him.
“His spell after lunch was awesome with the older ball. To still bowl fast and tight was a credit to him and Ricky has been a really reliable asset without having huge wicket counts.
“His consistency as a new ball bowler really helps Coby so his efforts are fantastic.”
Tooradin had a 115-run opening stand before the momentum shifted, with Ligt rapt with the psyche of players to ride that out and wrench back control.
After finishing fifth last season, the Panthers will be looking to make the leap into the top four, with their quest continuing in round five against Clyde in a two-day fixture.
“No-one panicked,” the captain said.
“We were all confident in what we were doing, confident in all the players.
“There were no nerves.
“The belief was there from everyone on the field that we still had it under control and it didn’t feel like a one-off.
“We don’t need to go out and blow teams put of the water, we just need to execute the basics and the game plan for the results to take care of themselves.”
