By David Nagel
The focus turns solely and squarely on two-day cricket on Saturday as the premiership contenders start to fine-tune their games ahead of a CCCA finals series that is now looming very large on the horizon.
The coloured clothing has been packed away in mothballs as Tooradin, Kooweerup, Pakenham and Cardinia put contingency plans in place over the next three rounds for when things inevitably get challenging in finals.
“What about us,” …you can almost hear a chorus of disagreement from the good folk at Devon Meadows!
Well…the fifth-placed Panthers are a very good unit and knocking on the door of playing finals, but just made too many costly mistakes in a cracking game against Pakenham on Australia Day.
Drop Chris Smith once and it will always prove costly, but do it twice – and a simple catch at that – and you rarely come out on top.
The truth of the matter is this; the Panthers have now lost their last three games against Cardinia, Clyde and Pakenham; a perfect stretch of games to prove their finals credentials.
Win one of those and they’re still in the hunt, but succeed in two or three and the Panthers would have had a healthy buffer as they tackle back-to-back away fixtures against the two best sides in the business.
They head to Kooweerup this week, followed by a trip to Tooradin.
The Panthers were blown away by these two sides in rounds three and four – on a Saturday/Sunday double-header – but were without their skipper and star opening bat in Lucas Ligt.
Despite only a steady output from his last three outings (50, 7, 23) Ligt still leads the way on the CCCA runscorers list (519) and his battle with these two great attacks will be a highlight of the season.
Ligt’s a genuine star, but it would be great to see him prove it against the best that the CCCA has to offer.
Kooweerup, on the other hand, hasn’t batted in two-day cricket since mid-November and players like Chris Bright, Luke McMaster, Steven Dillon and Gamini Kumara will be keen to spend time at the crease and get a long look at the red Kookaburra.
The Panthers will once again push a top team…but the Demons will be too strong.
Tooradin makes the trip to Clyde this week for its first two-day innings since November 25.
On that occasion, Peter Sweeney played a beautiful innings for the Seagulls in a fantastic battle with Kooweerup.
That day proved what Pete and his brother Mick were brought to the Seagulls for; to become the glue that holds the top-order together when the ultimate pressure-cooker gets switched from low to high.
Pete’s left-arm offies also provide a point of difference for an already potent attack, which seems to be getting stronger and stronger as each game rolls by.
Brad Butler has been back to his lethal best over the last fortnight – claiming two bags of three – while Dylan Sutton has brushed away the cobwebs from a late start to the season to also make an impact.
Clyde has won two of its last three, but has taken less wickets than any other team this season, with Max Adams (14), Daniel Lever (12) and Brett Reid (10) leading the way.
That lack of firepower will be exposed against a Seagulls outfit that is really hungry for runs.
Expect Cal O’Hare or Mick Sweeney to ton up…and the Seagulls to win handsomely.
In other games this week, Pakenham will be looking for its fifth-consecutive victory when the Lions head to Tony Way Reserve to take on Merinda Park.
There will be ‘no love lost’ in this one, with things getting a little spicy after the Cobras recent Kookaburra Cup semi-final win over the Lions on January 16 at the same venue.
The Cobras loss to Tooradin last week basically rules them out of finals contention, but skipper Mat Campbell has stated that he would love to shape the finals landscape and leave a sour taste in premiership hopefuls along the way.
The Lions will be at the top of that list; but contain some of the classiest players in the CCCA and will absolutely be no pushover.
Dale Tormey’s last six knocks (26, 61, 47, 16, 39* and 56) confirm that he is ready to explode and back up his 116 against Kooweerup in round five, while Chris Smith was in a class of his own last week; with Jack Anning and Stuart Johnson continuing to chip in with valuable runs.
The Lions need to be wary however, with Cambell Bryan in terrific nick over the last month, while Daniel McCalman is always a dangerous proposition.
But the Lions will win; make it five straight, and lock-in third position along the way.
And finally, Cardinia will look to break its win-loss-win-loss sequence this season when the Bulls travel to Carlisle Park to take on the bottom-placed Vikings.
It seems incredible that the Bulls are yet to win or lose two consecutive games…but they’ve never been better placed to break that sequence than right now.
Morteza Ali is having a season out of the box, with not out scores of 99, 154 and 105, while skipper Dean Henwood, Travis Wheller and Josh Browne have been super-consistent with the ball.
The Bulls need to be careful here, with the Vikings batting well over the last fortnight with Kasun Balasuriya, Ben Perry, Mark Henry and Duke Miller taking up the fight to some good opposition.
But there’s too much on the line for the Bulls; they’ll win comfortably and kick two games clear in fourth position on the ladder.
TIPS
CCCA Round 12 – Two-Day
Merinda Park (6) v PAKENHAM (3)
KOOWEERUP (2) v Devon Meadows (5)
Carlisle Park (8) v CARDINIA (4)
Clyde (7) v TOORADIN (1)
