Local Cricket, by Jim Timberlake
Geelong Cricket Club’s hopes of finishing the season on a positive note were dealt a crushing blow last Saturday when they put in one of their worst performances in memory.
Batting first against Footscray Edgewater, the Cats fell to 7/17 early before Mitchell Reid was able to arrest the carnage briefly, digging deep to score 36. But with a lack of willing allies to help him, Reid was the last man out for a terrible team total of just 57 in just 19.2 overs.
Footscray Edgewater then batted for 66 overs and racked up 4/256 before declaring.
Brenton McDonald managed to pick up three wickets to take his season tally to 31 in what has been a lone hand at times.
With seven overs still to play on day one, Geelong batted again and limped to stumps at 2/19.
The challenge tomorrow for the last day of the season will simply be to restore some pride, bat for as long as possible, and stave off an outright defeat.
In the Geelong Cricket Association, while South Barwon has given themselves a glimmer of hope in still contesting this seasons finals, their fate may well have been taken out of their own hands anyway, as the teams they are looking to replace in the top six have put themselves in a good position.
Fifth placed Murgheboluc look to have booked their spot with a big first innings total of 296 against Geelong City, Greg Holmes top scoring with 74.
And sixth-placed Newtown & Chilwell have already taken first innings points in their game against Bell Post Hill, bowling out the Panthers for just 83, before cruising to 4/172 at stumps.
So all of that means that despite South Barwon’s valiant effort of making 217 against ladder leader Grovedale, a win will simply not be enough to propel them into the six, and unless Richie Oliver and his Geelong City teammates can somehow beat Murgheboluc, the Swans may have left their run too late.
In Division two, Alexander Thomson are on the verge of pulling off what would have been considered an impossible task at Christmas, needing just a further 38 runs with eight wickets in hand to take the points against Geelong West and charge into the top six at the last possible moment.
The Vikings can once again thank star import Sean Tindale for the win, after he collected 5/45 as West were dismissed for just 96.
In reply, a couple of early hiccups weren’t enough to stop the charge into the finals, a dream that should come true tomorrow.
On the flipside, Torquay put in an abysmal effort in their virtual elimination final against Marshall, dismissed for just 90 thanks to a six wicket haul to Brad Greenwood.
In reply, the Bears cruised to first innings points, meaning they can get some valuable batting practice tomorrow, while Torquay will ponder what might have been in a season that started so brightly, but fell away dramatically at the end.
