By RUSSELL BENNETT
WEST GIPPSLAND COUNTRY WEEK
ANOTHER year, another West Gippsland Cricket Association Country Week campaign that has come up just short.
Try as they might, the Warriors couldn’t make it to Friday’s Victorian Country Cricket League (VCCL) Division 3 Melbourne Country Week final at the Bayswater Oval.
Cal O’Hare’s men finished fourth in the 10-team competition, with two wins from their four games last week. But they’re spurred on by the result – with the bulk of the side hell-bent on returning next year and achieving their goal.
The Warriors’ campaign got off to a dream start on day one, cruising past Wangaratta’s 208 to finish on 5/265 from their 50 overs.
Russ Lehman (100 not out) and Tom Hussey (83) continued their brilliant form with the willow with a 140-run opening stand that set up the victory, while Merinda Park leg-spinner Dylan Cuthbertson was sensational in his Warriors debut – snaring 4/48 from his 10 overs.
But the cricketing gods can be so cruel sometimes.
Facing Central Gippsland on day two at Endeavour Hills, the Warriors arrived to find a pitch that could best be described as a rain-soaked minefield.
It was horribly under-prepared, and whoever lost the toss would struggle mightily to win the game. Unfortunately for the Warriors, O’Hare lost the toss and the result was disastrous. Balls that were bouncing short of a length would explode, taking chunks out of the pitch as they ballooned past the batsmen’s faces, but fuller balls were doing the same. The likes of Lehman, O’Hare and AJ Walker copped an absolute barrage of body blows on a pitch that looked unplayable. If it wasn’t for an impressive half-century from Cuthbertson and 25 not out from Josh Lownds, the Warriors’ total would have come up far shorter than their 161.
But as the day grew older, the pitch became increasingly batsmen-friendly to the point where Central Gippsland’s innings was played in completely different conditions.
Still, the Warriors had them at 8/118 and couldn’t finish the job – eventually bowling them out for 164. The result would prove catastrophic for West Gippsland’s hopes of making the final.
Day three saw an enthralling contest in Frankston between the Warriors and Goulburn Murray. Lehman (3/47) continued a dream carnival with a hat-trick, and Kyle Brooke (2/20) very nearly did the same, as the boys from the north-east were dismissed for 219.But the Warriors (210) couldn’t capitalise on a string of starts – with five batsmen reaching 20 but none making a half-century.
Day four at Casey Fields showed the extreme contrast of the quality of the sides in Division 3, with the home-town Warriors (276) easily disposing of Seymour and District (9/147).
West Gippsland had an even spread of contributors with the bat and was led by another standout opening partnership between Lehman (38) and Hussey (34). With the ball, Cuthbertson (3/30) and Brooke (2/31) again shone.
In summing up the Warriors’ week, O’Hare said Cuthbertson and Lehman would both be worthy winners of the Glasscock Medal for the WCGA’s best Country Week player.
Cuthbertson has been outstanding since returning to the league from a stint at Victorian Premier side Fitzroy-Doncaster. Not only is he the most dangerous spinner in the WGCA, he’s more than handy with the willow – having compiled some key scores this season.
O’Hare also heaped praise on Hussey, the Warriors’ seam bowling brigade, the all-around performance of Merinda Park skipper Danny Diwell, and the coaching efforts of Cardinia’s Simon Parrott.
But one of the Warriors’ biggest issues throughout the week was the lack of runs coming from their middle-order batsmen. O’Hare put a lot of the blame at his own feet, and despite he, AJ Walker, Aaron Avery and Parrott making a series of key scores at clubland this season, the Country Week statistics hardly paint a pretty picture. O’Hare and Avery averaged just 7.75 and 7.33 runs each for the week, while Parrott averaged 10 and Walker 12.
The late withdrawal of Cardinia skipper Neil Barfuss was a huge blow, with the Warriors desperately in need of a calming, composed influence with the bat. The middle-order was full of sublime stroke-makers, but was found wanting when wickets fell in clumps. But next year the likes of Pakenham guns Dom Paynter and Chris Smith could return to the Warriors set-up and this could also have a huge impact.
Either way, as WGCA president Brett Armitage said after the Warriors’ final game on Thursday, they’d have the league’s backing “100 per cent”.
