One-dayers now followingLVDCL washouts

CRICKET LVDCL

BY LIAM DURKIN

RAIN drops, work stops.

If rain falls on your head, get in the shed. Wet steel, no deal.

Wet timber, get on Tinder.

The Latrobe ValleyDistrict Cricket League resembled aworksite on Saturday, as persistent showers saw the majority of games abandoned.

While atotal abandonment was not called on Saturday morning, most matches were eventually called after ground inspections by players and umpires.

With last Saturday scheduled to be the first day of Round 14 in Premier Aand AGrade,games in those divisions will now revert to one-day conditions.

So, get the coloured clothes and pads back out, along with the white balls.

Therewillbeleg side wides, free hits, and ahigh likelihood of cheap wickets between overs 45 and 50 caught on the fence.

Premier A

MATCH-OF-THE-ROUND sees third-placed

Morwell take on top-side Moe.

Just four points separates the teams, and given there can no longer be outrights in aone-dayer (Trafalgar tried very hard once, losing 17 wickets in aday), the Tigers can go equal with the Lions if they claim victory at home.

Morwell defeated Moe in the previous one-day game just before Christmas, and could be looking to reference this performance.

Thatbeing said,the margin wasonly 17 runs, and asimilar margin would not be all that surprising on the return.

For asidethat is on top of the ladder, the Lions seem to be quietly going about their business.

The bowlers have been inflicting damage on opposition line-ups in thelast two rounds; Callum Grant’s7/37and 5/13fromRob Phoenix evidence of that.

Duetoa combinationoffactors, Moehas needed to bat at avery slow rate in the couple of two-day gamespost-Christmas.Inthe match against Latrobe, they batted nearly100 overs for 256, and in the previous game against CATS,went at just over two runs-per-over.

Without stating the obvious, the Lions can’tafford to bat like this in aone-dayer, and the challenge will be there for playerstodemonstrate their versatility switching back to the shorter format.

By contrast, this could be where Morwell looks to take the upper hand.

If the Tigers can keep their opponents locked in Test mode,they should be able to keep the scoring rate undercontrol for the most part.

Morwell has playersthe likes of Blair Clymo who can rotate strike via deft dabs mixed in with the odd boundary, which could lay the foundation for Blake Mills and Brendan Brincat to blast the ball in the last 17 overs.

The Tigers have named formerChurchillcaptain Brendan Mason in CGrade afew times thisseason, and interest will surround if he makes his AGrade debut for Morwell on Saturday.

Mason is coming back from injury, but could be akey addition for Morwell if he is fit to playin time for finals.

LATROBE can narrow the gap on the top four if it is successful at home.

The Sharks are playing Churchill -asideithas already defeated this season.

Latrobe won that encounter by 35 runs, helped in no small way by captain Benn Zomer, who scored 53 and took three wickets.

Zomer’swicketofJohn Keighran went along way to deciding the match,asthe Cobras were 6/129 in pursuit of 186 when he departed for 43.

TheSharkswill be looking to their skipper for further heroics at home, as they aim to stay on track for afinals berth.

By their own admission, Latrobe hasprobably let teams off the hook in the two games since Christmas, and will know the consequenceof mistakes against any side that has Keighran in it.

Churchill new-ball bowler Kian Farnworth already has 24 wickets for the season, and should enjoy bowling on aPeter Siddle Oval wicket that, given its limiteduse this season due to factors outside the club’s control, remains something of amystery.

Traditionally, opposition captains have been fooled over the years at Peter Siddle Oval, with the sight of grass causing them to immediately think ‘green top’,only for the locals to know full well it is going to play perfectly fine.

While there will surely be many factors determining this match, just how well Keighran reads the pitch might be the most pivotal.

CATS has some catching up to do.

Mathematically,the highest CATS can go at the completion of this round is fifth, which would still put them agame outside the top four with two rounds to play.

The equation would therefore seem relatively straight-forward.

CATS willtravel to Yinnar for an assignment against Raiders, who conversely, could go 10 points clear in the top four if it wins and Latrobe loses.

It has been afairly horrendous four weeks since Christmas for the reigning premier, who have lost outright,and failed to chase 123.

Raiders meanwhile have knocked-off Morwell and Churchill -teams bothcurrentlyahead of them on the ladder.

On that basis, Raiders should start favourite, but by the same token, will know the danger CATS possess, as well as the lottery element of one-day cricket.

Loversoffast bowling could be in for atreat, with Cal Stewart in the CATS colours, and Madura Perera in Raiders’sending downsomethunderbolts for their respective sides.

The ball looks to be the element that will dominant this game, as both teams have shown a tendency to collapse at times this season.

Raiders only made acombined total of 210 over two innings in their last match, while CATS’ last four efforts has been: All out 108, 104, 75 and 71.

AGrade

TRAFALGAR and Centralswill vie for Take 2at Racecourse Turf.

Thenumber two looks to be astrong theme in this match -Centrals to make it two-from-two against the Ships, (and all but sew-up the minor premiership), and Trafalgar to stay on track for a top-two finish.

Only one win separates the combatants, although the Lions are acommanding 11 points clear on top thanks to consecutive outrights.

Strongpercentage is ahallmark of both these teams, which would indicate they have been winning games convincingly.

Those who know sportstatistics know percentage usually tellsthe full story. (Collingwood’s was only marginally better than Gold Coast’s last year).

The Lions won alast-ballthriller against the Ships in their last one-dayer in early December, andwill no doubt have gained alot of confidence from that.

Trafalgar’s fielding was deplorable in that match, but after addressing the issue, has tidied up that area of the game, and not lost amatch since.

Likewise, Centralshas not lost agame since, meaning the winning streak of at least one club is going to come to an end on Saturday (barring atie).

Tye Hourigan has been in good formwith the bat for Centrals,and has 250 runs for the season so far. However, his statistics against Trafalgar make for unpleasant, and somewhat confusing, reading Put simply -hejust can’t seem to make arun against the Ships.

He has made 57 runs in 10 hits against them.

Trafalgar coalitionbowlers Jackson Noonan, Zack Brown and Daniel Heathcote will be looking to keep this average where it is, but will be vary that Hourigan is well and truly due.

They will also be wary of South African Reghard Hefer, especiallyafter he sent four balls literally into the carpark at Trafalgar Recreation Reserve the last time these two teams met.

Some of those sixes were big (emphasise the big as you say it).

Both sides were essentially marooned in possibly the worst place for awashout last Saturday, with the small Moe Racecourse rooms acting almost like solitary confinement.

With no food, no TV, and no pool table,itwas the equivalent of bachelor hell.

Players will no doubt be eager to avoid such a repeat, andget onto the ground at all costs this Saturday. WILLOW GROVE might all of asudden be a sneaky chance.

The Wolves are hosting Jeeralang-Boolarra on theWillow Grove astro.

Both teams head in with just the one win combined, meaning this match could carry all the intensity of afinal.

Had the game stayed as atwo-dayer,the Panthers may well have been clear favourites, however, the nature of one-daycricketmeans Willow Grove could chalk up their first win as a‘new’ AGrade club.

The home side showed it could bat afull day in atwo-dayer last game; now the challenge will be two-fold: do the same in aone-dayer, but keep the scoreboard ticking.

Left hander Nathan Wheildon has abig enough shotrangetodothis,while the other Nathan, NathanWeatherhead, could causesomeissues bowling his right arm wobblers.

Jeeralang-Boolarra will want to put this result beyond all reasonable doubt as quickly as possible, and fortunately for them, they look to have abatting line-up probably more suited to the shorter format.

ThePanthers certainly aren’t afraid to play their shots, and in a50-over game, if they come out swinging, they can afford to lose two wickets every 10 overs provided every player is able to connect with afew.

The questionwill be whether or not they can balance this with sensibility.

This is where seniorleaders Ben Heath and Ben McCormack will be called upontoprovide the calming influence.

TRARALGON WEST may havebeen jumping for joy when they found out this week was aone-dayer.

The Eagles were the in-form one-day team of the competition up until Christmas.

Aheavy outright loss that was virtually determinedonthe first day last round however, meant the side came crashing back down to earth.

Giventhe natureofthat defeat to Centrals,there may have been worrying signs for the Eagles, but for now at least, they have aone-day game to win against Mirboo North at home.

The Tigers probablywouldhave started favourite in atwo-day game, but now that the situation has changed, the odds might have evened up.

The Eagles displayed afearless approach to batting in their one-dayers before Christmas, and could implement asimilar approach on Saturday.

Most in the Traralgon West camp aren’t overly concerned with how they look with the bat, provided they score runs, which might actually work to their advantage in more ways than one.

If the ball starts flying to places unplanned, the Eagles will not only succeed in scoring, but it could also frustratethe Mirboo North bowlers drastically With afour-point lead in second-place,Traralgon West captain Rob Wilkie might send the message to go down swinging.

Having played enough cricket to know what is goingon, the Tigers’ experiencedheadsofBrett Pedlow, Jed Alexander and Dale Banks will be aware of the potential for any reverse psychology. Patienceisavirtue, and MirbooNorth plays this game better than most.

Two worlds could be set to collide at Jack Canavan.

LVDCL scoreboard

PREMIER CGRADE -ROUND 12

Mirboo North 3/177 (D Turner 29*, PWoodall 25) def Trafalgar 2/155(cc) (S Asmussen 52*, WPace 35, DTurner 2/14); Centrals 7/178(cc) (A Foley73, KSaunders26, J Murdoch 25, ASavige 2/26, SPalmer 2/36) def Moe 163(RStraughair 42, MGlibanovic 39, Brad Howlett3/17, JDonovan 3/42, Brodie Howlett2/26)

Allother LVDCL games across all grades were postponed/abandoned duetorain.