When Pre Season started way back at the end of July, Coaches Jack and Craig said yep winning 1st XI Grand Finals are great, but there’s no reason why we can’t win all of the grades…. Fast Forward to March 26th and we’ve got a 50:50 chance to win 3 out of the 4 grades with our 1s 2s and 4s all booking their spots into the big Dance over the weekend.

1983/84 was the last time any Division 1 1st XI club has won 3 Premierships in a row, it was Newtown and they actually won 6, but on Saturday we’ll settle for our 3rd before we start looking at anything bigger. So many good sides have come and gone over the years but to get 3 of them in a row hasn’t been achieved since before most of our 1st XI were alive. A man who will have a big say in it is skipper Tom Mathieson who once again won the toss in what’s been a season to believe. Tom’s won a record 12 out of 13 tosses and winning 1 more next week would certainly help. Another man who will go along way to helping us get 3 in a row put on a display very rarely seen anywhere on a cricket field. Sam Hall smashed 154 off 153 balls which included 12 sixes and 10 fours. His knock single handedly put the guys in the box seat for victory. Sam shared in a 139 run stand with Layton McCann and then a 76 run stand with Alistair McCann as the guys piled on 9/285.

In reply South had to get off to a flying start and they’re definitely a side capable of that. Luckily our bowlers, lead by the skipper himself kept things tight and didn’t allow South to get a run on. Andrew Fergusson cashed in on the other bowlers tight areas as he removed both openers to get the guys going.  Bagga was then introduced with immediate impact as he too picked up 2 quick wickets. At 4/105 and the run rate reaching 9 an over, the game was all but over and Tom made sure of that as he ripped thru the middle to lower order picking up 4 wickets and booking our ticket into the big Dance next Saturday Afternoon.

The 2nd XI finished on top of the ladder and didn’t have things all their own way in their contest. Batting 1st, the North wicket wasn’t easy to score on early as our top order struggled. It wasn’t until the now veteran Tone came to the crease, batting at 6, that the scoreboard started ticking over. When he fell for a well compiled 41, the scoreboard still looked a little light on at 7/108. Smidge and Tom Webster paired up and together got the boys to a defendable score. They worked well together as Smidge pinched the Singles and Webby attempted to whack the boundaries.

The score of 144 would only be enough if we bowled well. Openers Kingy and Webby did just that as the pair piled on the dot balls. 1st and 2nd change bowlers Lachy Hyde and Cal Ferg both continued the pressure as the rate went from a comfortable 3 an over, to then 5 an over. Mango was introduced with immediate affect as the pressure was right on. It’s not often a captains tactics get spoken about in after match reviews but Braden’s captaincy was spot on and his bowling changes seemed to work everytime. With the game on the line Webby put the boys on his shoulders and came through with the goods. Webby would also then be the bowler to bowl the last over of the innings. Grovedale needing a miracle and 18 runs. Webby didn’t allow that to happen sending our guys through to the final day of March. All 5 bowlers doing a great job, bowling their 10 overs each. Kingy 1/17, Webby 2/23, Hyde 2/19, Cal Ferg 1/28, Mango 3/40.

When you stood back and looked at our 4ths side you’d see 6 kids under 21, The Coach of the Club, the President and then a handful of other experienced cricketers, and you’d hope they win a handful of games for the year. Next week they’re playing off in a Grand Final purely because they play as a team and everyone chips in. Bowling first our guys took it up to the top of the table Newtown. Charlie Hall grabbed a wicket early before the skipper Jack lead from the front with 2 important wickets. Sam Wakefield capped off the dangerous trio of quicks and when he got his first wicket, Newtown were 4/63. The contest from there was quite even until the spinning duo of Benny Demasi and Dwij Desai spun the game back in our favour. The spinners combined for the next 3 wickets along with a runout and Newtown had completed their 45 overs and finished 9/168.

169 to win, chasing in a final. Not an easy task by any means. The President Jeff Czajkowski has had an unbelievable year with the bat and that continued with his ever reliable partner Liam Biddiscombe. Liam started the year with a century against Lara, he’s now got a chance to end it with a Premiership Medal next week as he and Jeff took the game away from Newtown and settled any nerves in the sheds. 0/50 then became 0/100 then 0/150. Guys like Pricey and Davey who were listed to bat middle order didn’t even have to get in their whites as the guys looked to be heading to victory 0 down. Unfortunately for our guys both openers fell with only a handful of runs to get. Jeff out for 83, Liam out for 69 but the job was done as the guys wrapped things up with still 11 overs to spare and their spot in the Grand Final sealed.

Sunday, the last of our 4 sides remaining played off in their semi. The women’s A Grade side, which features 7 girls under the age of 20, took on last year’s Grand Finalists East Belmont. After losing the toss and having to bowl first our girls toiled away. Openers Jordyn and Helen both looking promising without being able to capture that early breakthrough. Norz was then introduced and picked up the first scalp thanks to the juggling hands of Stephi Murphy. From there wickets were hard to come by as the East bats waited and pounced on anything that was a bit loose. Helen picked up her first wicket late as East finished 2/116.

With runs on the board the East Belmont bowling attack gave our girls very little room to move and definitely no freebies. At 3/7 things were looking ugly, it got even worse when 2 of our top run scorers all season, Helen and Soph both departed. 5/16 was soon 7/34 and the game look lost. Jordyn Stewart and Lauren Kelly added respectability back to the innings as the pair put on 33 runs for the 8th wicket. Jordyn falling for 17 as Lauren finished not out 22 but unfortunately the damage was done and we finished our 20 overs 8/76. Still, not a bad effort from a side that finished on the bottom of the ladder, this time last year. With so many young girls who’ve came through our Junior system amongst the group, the girls will be back bigger and better next year.

So with 3 sides all ready to go in Saturday’s Grand Final, our opponents have been locked in, ironically it’s East Belmont in all 3 grades and the venues have been locked in.
1s @ South Barwon
2s @ East Belmont
4s @ South Barwon
Yes, the 1st XI will be live streamed but get down and support the guys in anyway that you can. Winning Grand Finals are special and as the family club we are, the more people involved the better.