By Jonty Ralphsmith
A weekend of great magnitude in the local cricketing scene.
Several teams have expressed concern about player availability for round eight of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association given it falls just four days before Christmas.
Some people are away, others are celebrating a work breakup.
But several clubs’ seasons will hinge on the results of the one-day fixtures on Saturday.
As it stands, a game separates fourth from sixth; a healthy position for the competition to sit in given the traditional gap that tends to separate Pakenham, Tooradin, Cardinia and Kooweerup and the chasing pack.
But each member of the top four will play a bottom four team, meaning that should results go to script, a game-and-a-half could separate fourth from fifth, with Clyde sitting six points further back.
While it’s not an unassailable gap with six home and away rounds still to be played prior to Christmas, it would be a misrepresentation of what has been a closer season than recent years.
At different stages, all of Clyde, Devon Meadows, Merinda Park and Upper Beaconsfield have taken it up to the top four sides with minimal collective reward.
Round eight needs to be the week that some of those honourable losses are turned into wins.
That Merinda Park remains winless is a travesty – arguably, the Cobras have looked the most likely to take games off the top four, yet have continually fallen short.
Matt Campbell and his troops would attest to the fact that losing is a plague and it’s one they will be desperate to break.
Go winless into Christmas and regardless what is said, it will be hard not to look ahead to the long-term consequence of each result – potential relegation – which could deepen their hole.
The Cobras take on Kooweerup which presents as a tough challenge, but they will take confidence from the fact they put 409 on the Demons at Kooweerup earlier in the season, which was run down late in the day.
Kooweerup will be keen to get back on the winner’s list having dropped a top-of-the-table game against Pakenham.
Not only will the Demons want to avoid losing two straight games before Christmas, but they need to maintain a buffer between themselves and the chasing pack, currently just one win clear of Devon Meadows.
Devon Meadows takes on Tooradin, a side which the Panthers defeated earlier in the season at Glover Reserve across two days.
Captain Lucas Ligt spoke of the confidence his side will take into that clash and a win would keep them right in the mix for finals – wonderful reward for 18 months of hard work.
The batting lineup is looking as strong as it has all season while they will hope their spin bowling lineup can once again bring Tooradin undone.
The Seagulls are hard to get a gauge on, having shown some promise since the Devon Meadows loss last month, primarily with the ball.
The batting has been up-and-down all season, yet they’ve done enough to sit second on the table so should have a degree of confidence about reversing the first result between the teams.
At Toomuc, Pakenham takes on Clyde, with the Lions looking to protect an undefeated record and the Cougars keen for a breakthrough win, having been in strong form across the past month against bottom-four sides.
Opener Chris Smith looms as a player to watch, having scored 159 runs at 40; a solid return but well down on his magical 2023-24 output which yielded in excess of 1000 runs.
Both teams have shown excellent batting spread this season, so there’s every chance this game could be a run-fest.
Cardinia hosts Upper Beaconsfield in the other game and will be keen to keep the pressure on the top two, sitting half a game behind first-placed Pakenham.
While a one-day fixture doesn’t typically lend itself to players making big scores, the Bulls would dearly love someone to go large, having been forced to rely on bit-part contributions.
Cardinia is yet to have an innings this season where it has been able to bat around an anchor, which ultimately came unstuck against Tooradin in round 7 as they couldn’t establish partnerships and were bundled for 100.
Upper Beaconsfield, meanwhile, will hope its batters can ease the pressure on the bowling lineup.
The Maroons are yet to pass 200 this season which simply won’t challenge the best teams consistently.
In round 7, it took Devon Meadows 84 overs to chase 178, but the small target meant scoreboard pressure was never a factor.
Despite the difficulties of recent weeks, there is still so much on the line for Upper Beaconsfield.
Victory would likely create a two-and-a-half game buffer between itself and bottom-placed Merinda Park, positioning them well to avoid the dreaded immediate relegation.
For one last time in 2024, let the games begin – there’s plenty on the line!
