Geelong Cricket Association resumes on January 14 and Justin Flynn takes a look at what the rain-affected first half of the season brought and what the second half has in store.
EAST BELMONT
East Belmont has made the most runs of any side in the competition with Shane McNamara (424 runs at 106) responsible for more than one-third of them.
Josh Lacey has chipped in with 217 of his own and there’s no doubt the Lions possess run-making ability.
They probably need to take more wickets in the second half of the season, but to be fair, it’s been a batter-dominated season competition-wide so far.
The Lions fixture shows a meeting with Grovedale straight after the break and then St Joseph’s and South Barwon before a mammoth clash against North Geelong.
After that it’s Newtown & Chilwell and Lara before finishing off with a tough one against Grovedale.
The Lions will make the four. It just depends on where they finish up.
GROVEDALE
Sitting nicely in second spot, the Tigers are poised to give the flag a shake.
Michael McNeel (240 runs) and Jordan Moran (232) sit third and fourth respectively on the batting aggregate table while Devlin Foott and Jack Wrigglesworth are second and third respectively on the wickets table.
A first-up meeting with East Belmont will go a long way to deciding whether the Tigers claim a top two spot and all eyes will be on the January 28 clash against North Geelong.
A return clash against East Belmont in the final round looks like being the one that might decide the final ladder position.
HIGHTON
Highton is the only side not to win a game so far, but recent results suggest that the first win is not far away.
The run home sees Highton face four games against teams inside the top four and four against sides outside the four.
Highton is only two games outside the top four and if it can get on a run of wins, finals are not out of the question.
James Gillard is the side’s leading run maker with 196, including a superb century in round nine.
LARA
With one win for the season, the Cats are still only a game outside the top four.
Kaden Marum has 180 runs for the season while Robert Pehar and Mitchel Hayward have taken 15 wickets between them.
Return matches against North Geelong make things tough for Lara to make the finals, but it’s possible.
NEWTOWN & CHILWELL
The Two Blues are inside the top four by half a game.
English import George Rhodes will be looking to finish off the season the way he started with two centuries and an 86 in the first three rounds.
Rhodes and George Chisholm have 15 wickets between them.
The Two Blues will probably start favourites in their next three games and will be pushing for a finals spot by the end of the season.
NORTH GEELONG
Undefeated and looking every bit the premiership favourites, the Magpies have taken 50 wickets so far this season, the most of any team in the comp.
Former Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association batters Ned Cooper (230 runs) and Curtly Balshaw (200) have slotted into the team nicely.
Another former BPCA star, Dale Kerr, has a half-century and eight wickets.
Tom Mathieson is having some sort of season with 17 wickets at the insane average of 6.76.
It’s hard to see the Magpies finishing any lower than second and from there the real stuff starts come finals time.
SOUTH BARWON
South Barwon has been the club most affected by the recent floods and have played one less game than all the other teams along with St Joseph’s.
The Swans are capable of leaping up the ladder from their current sixth place, particularly if Pat Richards (177 runs) continues his good form.
The Swans play Highton twice in the run home.
ST JOSEPH’S
Like South Barwon, Joeys have played one less game than six other teams and sit fifth on the ladder.
Andrew Casey (200 runs at 66.67), Andrew Hodgson (191 at 63.67) and Luke Ibbs (181 at 54.25) have been good with the willow and Austin Humphrey is the leading wicket taker with eight.
Joeys play Newtown & Chilwell twice from here on and have a favourable fixture to leap into the four.
