Casey South Melbourne ran into the wrath of Ringwood’s Tom Rogers on Saturday.
Rogers has pummelled many a bowling attack over the last two seasons, grossing six hundreds and two fifties – those non-converted knocks being scores of 77 and 86 – in his last 15 Victorian Premier Cricket innings.
While none of those eight knocks above 77 had come against the Swans, Will Carr’s men were blown out of the water by the enchanting left-hander in the second innings on Saturday.
After being in a tricky situation with the bat, the Swans scrambled to 9/227, courtesy of another fighting half-century (86) from young gun Harrish Kannan.
While a strong total on any given day, Rogers made it look elementary in his knock off 116 from just 103 deliveries.
And although the innings was one that frustrated coach Carr, he was still able to admire the form the opposition bat is in.
“I don’t mind chatting about it, you don’t want to be in the wrong side of it but at the same time that’s the first time I have seen him in full flight,” he said of Rogers.
“I have watched him in a Second XI (Victoria) game a little bit, he didn’t get away from us last time or in the T20, but mate… he is just class.
“He’s a class white-ball player and I think he has proven that over the last three seasons, when guys like that are on the top of their game, which he clearly is, they can take it away from you, which he did.
“We probably weren’t at our best with the ball, but sometimes players like that don’t allow bowlers to be at their best, he took advantage and cashed in.
“As a neutral, it was a pleasure to watch, as an opposition coach it was pretty frustrating, but that’s the way it goes – he was class.”
The issue of not posting a big enough score is an unfamiliar one for the Swans, as opening stands last season set the Casey South Melbourne outfit up for victory on several occasions.
In fact, the Swans opening stands have dropped from an average of 50 to just 19 this season with the obvious lack of now Shield-man Ashley Chandrasinghe.
On a typically flat Casey Fields wicket – with the addition of the carpet-like outfield – Carr was always sceptical that the Swans’ score of 227 was shy of par.
“From being 4/41, the total was okay, but if we are being brutally honest you need 240 plus,” he said.
“I know the difference is only 13 runs or something, but it certainly can make a difference, I think you ideally need 240 plus batting first on our ground and wicket.
“It was good to recover from 4/40 to 227, but we probably ended up 15 or 20 runs short of where we think we should’ve – or needed – to be.
“It’s certainly a difference in how we were travelling for majority of last season.
“In saying that, that can open some doors for new opportunities for some other guys, they can come in in different situations, because you never know when you’re going to be faced with that.
“We didn’t come away with it on Saturday, but we’ve won games from that position already this season, so you like to take the positives out of it and say ‘well when we come up against that again, we will be better prepared’.
“I have got confidence and faith that our top order will fire – it just prepares us for different situations.”
The Rams managed to chase down the Swans total in the 40th over with eight wickets in the shed.
Dandenong, meanwhile, had another difficult day at the office.
The Panthers got off to a scorching start through Braden Taeuber, who dismissed St Kilda opener Tom Russ third ball of the day.
He proceeded to take a career-best 5/39 from his 10, but it was a lone hand as a former Panther – Ed Newman – filled his boots (96) against his old side.
64 from just 45 rocks from Adam Crosthwaite then propelled to Saints to 8/295 at the close of the innings.
Regular wickets halted the Panthers from making any inroads on the big total, with just two players reaching 30 or more – one being Englishman Ben Allison who carved 56 from 38 balls.
The Panthers sunk to 10/191 in the pursuit of the large total.
VPC LADDER
TEAM W L PTS %
Northcote 5 0 31 2.4656
Melbourne 5 0 29 2.239
Carlton 4 1 24 1.1995
St Kilda 4 1 24 1.0469
Ringwood 3 2 19 1.7686
Essendon 3 2 19 1.2364
Melbourne University 3 2 19 1.0738
Richmond 2 2 15 1.2636
Casey-South Melbourne 2 2 15 0.9763
Prahran 2 3 14 1.1093
Footscray 2 3 12 0.796
Camberwell Magpies 2 3 12 0.7896
Kingston Hawthorn 2 3 12 0.6214
Frankston Peninsula 1 3 9 0.6865
Geelong 1 3 9 0.5381
Fitzroy Doncaster 1 4 8 0.8061
Greenvale Kangaroos 1 4 7 0.7808
Dandenong 0 5 2 0.4804
