By David Nagel
FOURTH placed Upper Beaconsfield play host to fifth placed Tooradin in a Premier cricket match where two high-profile WGCA recruits will lock horns.
The home side’s Shawn Flegler and the Seagulls’ Tom Hussey have both been brilliant this season and they look certain to stare each other down from 22 yards at some stage this Saturday.
Hussey has consistently seen off the opposition new-ball this year and with the Maroons’ total reliance on the spin bowling of Flegler and captain Scott Pitcher, the contest could be on sooner rather than later.
Hussey will need his dancing shoes on and in sync.
Flegler and Pitcher are the competition’s most thorough exemplars of slow bowling – it will be fascinating to see how Hussey attacks the contest.
Tooradin were the spruik side at the start of the season – captain Aaron Avery confident the inclusion of some name recruits would make his team a premiership contender, so they need a win against a fellow finals aspirant. They will, just.
@BT Sub Sport News:DISTRICT
HEAVYWEIGHTS Devon Meadows and Merinda Park square-off this Saturday in what may well be a grand final preview.
Devon Meadows has been dominant this season but faces its first serious test when it plays host to the equally impressive Cobras in a one-day match.
Merinda Park has won games against two of the bottom four sides, Catani and Nyora in just as impressive style as the Panthers, but it’s their three other wins that carry more substance.
In round one against fellow top four side Emerald, it chased down 193 and then backed that up in round two against SFX Old Collegians, hunting down 165, both in one-day fixtures. In round five against Lyndhurst Vikings the Cobras once again rose to the challenge, passing the Vikings’ 207 with five wickets still left in the shed.
Devon Meadows’ bowling has been led by veteran Peter Zauner and the under-rated Mick Floyd. Both sit at the top of the District bowling aggregates with 14 wickets apiece. Lucas Carroll and Billy Loudon have been able assistants.
Steve Robinson, Jason Holman and Darren O’Brien have shown enough with the bat to suggest they’ll be around if the whips start cracking this Saturday.
The Cobras have Brendan Fairlam and Jess Mathers firing with ball and Chris Smith and Glen Ward with the willow, skipper Jamie Smith might also rise to the occasion.
It’s a hard one to split but the Panthers should get over the line.
Sixth placed Lyndhurst Vikings play host to fourth placed Emerald this week and take good batting form into the match.
In the last three matches, the Vikings have made over 200 runs and that includes battles with finals-bound Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll in round three and Merinda Park in round five.
Chris Hauselberger held the Vikings’ innings together against the Cobras with a stylish 81 with Mark Henry’s 28 providing the back-up. David Greensmith failed in that game but has been the Vikings’ mainstay all season.
Heath Straughair bowled beautifully against the Cobras claiming 3/29 and will find the going easier against Emerald, whose form in its last match was nothing short of disastrous, being beaten outright by the Goons.
The Vikings will win this one.
@BT Sub Sport News:SUB DISTRICT
FOURTH placed Tooradin get a second chance to stamp itself a serious premiership contender this Saturday when it hosts second placed Upper Beaconsfield.
The Seagulls had their destiny in their own hands in round five when they rolled top team Clyde for just 126 before collapsing themselves, being rolled for a dismal 99.
The excuse on that occasion was the absence of leading run-scorer Kane Latham, but the disappointing aspect was that no-one stepped up to fill the void. Mathew Walker and Sam Clarke the only two batsmen to pass 20.
Clarke and Sean Baker were good with the ball against Clyde in an attack that has been hard to get away all season. They’ll need to be at their best against the Maroons.
This one’s a toss of the coin but we’ll go with home team Seagulls to get over the line.
Did Cranbourne Meadows return to form in its round five game against bottom side Gembrook, or was it a flash in the pan?
That question will be well and truly answered by 6pm this Saturday when the sixth placed side travels to Lineham Oval to take on top side Clyde.
The Rebels were awesome against the Brookers, racking up 9/336 and inspired by a Brent Murdoch century, but that performance just doesn’t ring true when lined up against its early season efforts.
It had a top score of 119 leading into round five and if any cracks are still evident, the Cougars will expose them.
Its bowling has been super this season, Dean Williams, Nick Miles, Patrick Lawson and Adrian Buller form a four-pronged attack to make any batsman go weak at the knees. Williams took 5/28 and made 56 not out in Clyde’s last outing against Tooradin and his shadow looms large over the Rebels this week.
David Denton has been the Cougars’ best batsman this season and his contest with Rebels’ opening bowler Jason Poole could be a key to the result. Clyde looked brittle apart from Denton’s half-century in round five so if Poole can make early inroads, anything’s possible.
Clyde’s superior bowling will be the difference, the home side to salute.
