By Jarrod Potter
AND then there were four. The District and Sub-District Divisions have boiled down to the grand finalists, with Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll, Merinda Park, Clyde and Upper Beaconsfield all looking to hoist their banners and gain promotion.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:NAR NAR GOON-MARYKNOLL V MERINDA PARK
The Marygoons feature one of the strongest XIs in the competition, with no blind spots or glaring issues at any spot in the roster.
Their batting order is powerful – Jamie Glen has lead from the front, hitting three half centuries in his last three innings. Centuries from David MacDermid, Craig Lewis and half centuries from the rest of the order prove their capabilities run throughout the order.
Their bowling is strong as well. Vinny Van Strijp, Sam Vanderzalm and Joey Sweeney continually get the crucial scalps.
Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll captain Jamie Glen said that all facets of their gameplay stand them in good stead to win the final and gain promotion, but the Marygoons will need to restrict Merinda Park’s batting to win.
“I think we’ll win the match by trying to keep them down to a low score,” Glen said. “They’re a good batting side so it will take our best effort with the ball and in the field… keep them down to a minimal score and hopefully we’ve got the goods to get the runs.”
“Hopefully our pressure with the ball is there and we can force a few bad shots and on our day, I think our bowlers are good enough to take wickets against good batsmen and that’s what we have to do.”
The improvement from last season is the greatest reward for Glen, with Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll shrugging off their one-win 2010-11 campaign to win 11 matches and only lose once this time around.
“We almost were looking at relegation last year and the thing I’m most proud of is we’ve kept the same squad and are in the grand final,” Glen said. We’re definitely the underdogs against the harder hitting and more experienced side and we’re looking to give them a good shake up.”
Merinda Park likewise finds runs and wickets from all in the XI, as evident by the Adam Newstead-Uma Rattan rescue against Catani.
The batting depth the Cobras possess is it’s greatest weapon according to captain Jamie Smith, with the likes of Newstead, Rattan and Shannon Mathers all able to knock in valuable runs from the deep tail.
“The best thing at the moment with the side is all the batsmen are in form,” Smith said. “Mathers, McCalman, Martin. “Ward missed out but is in good form – the openers made nothing this week, but hit 90s last week.
“If we can bat to our potential in the grand final we can win – there’s always someone to pick up the slack.
“We’ve been bowling pretty well, the fielding is pretty good, but we think if we can keep playing the way we’ve been playing, we’re in a good position to win the final.”
Smith didn’t agree with the underdogs tag given to the Marygoons by Glen Smith looked to the ladder to prove who goes in with bragging rights.
“They finished on top for a reason,” Smith said. “They’d have to be favourites.
“They went into that with one loss, so my opinion is we’ll be the underdogs.
“It’s nice that he (Glen) said that, but they should be the favourites.”
Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll hosts the final at Nar Nar Goon Reserve 1.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:SUB-DISTRICT
CLYDE V UPPER BEACONSFIELD
Clyde continues their rampant march through Sub-District cricket, trying to ensure their demotion to this grade is only a one year dalliance.
Cougars’ captain Noel O’Brien is wary of Upper Beaconsfield’s potential, following their upset victory over Clyde in round 12.
“They’re a good side,” O’Brien said. “They beat us third last round so we’ve definitely got a lot of respect for them so it should be a good game.”
“Going from when they beat us, Kyle Gibbs got five wickets and bowled really well.
“With the bat Luke Willis is a class batsman, so we need to stop those boys.”
With Pat Lawson’s six-wicket haul in the semi final, O’Brien is confident the bowlers can execute their plans, but he also believes their batting is strong.
“The bowling has been the strength for us, but I’ve got full faith in our batting,”
“We bat all the way down and it’s just a matter of doing the basic things right and batting in partnerships.
“If we do the basics right I’m confident we can get the result.”
The long shot Upper Beaconsfield crew believe they can win the premiership and create the rare Premier-District double from one club.
Maroons’ captain Matt Scanlon said they will pay attention to the Cougars’ bowling quartet and try to negate them with Lachlan Henstock and Luke Willis to lead their resistance.
“We know they have a pretty good bowling line-up and we have to respect that,” Scanlon said.
“We’ve just got to be patient and look to build a good innings.”
Clyde host the grand final at Lineham Oval.
