Local Cricket, by Jim Timberlake
Geelong Cricket Club’s wretched season has finally come to an end, unfortunately in the worst possible way, losing outright to Footscray Edgewater last Saturday.
The Cats resumed at 2/19 needing another 180 runs just to make their hosts bat again, but at 4/51 that looked a long way off.
However, Mitchell Reid with 60 and Brenton McDonald with 66 enjoyed a 112-run partnership to get things back on track.
But when both of those batsmen were dismissed, the tail crumbled and Geelong were dismissed for 186.
Coach Andre Borovec will be bitterly disappointed with the results this year, but he will leave no stone unturned over the winter in his search for some quality players to add to the squad, as well as reinforcing to the current group the need to improve.
In a ray of hope, the Third XI snuck into the finals and they will carry the club’s hopes of some silverware for the remainder of this season.
In the Geelong Cricket Association, it’s finals time, and in division one, some absolutely cracking games are scheduled to kick things off.
North Geelong claimed the minor premiership, the beneficiaries of the GCA’s mind boggling decision to play a 12-round season where each team plays each other once, plus one team twice.
With no disrepect to St Peters who came up to the top division this season, and despite being mismatched in most grades, the side stuck to their task manfully and with a bright attitude despite being simply out of their depth. But in such a tight season, three of North Geelong’s top four sides directly benefited from playing them twice, enjoying a huge advantage over the rest of the competition.
So North Geelong now take on Murgheboluc, the Frogs making their first ever division one finals series on the back of a fantastic season, culminating in a nail-biting win over Geelong City last week.
Both sides boast such an even spread of contributors that it’s hard to pick a winner, but the Magpies class, mixed with finals experience should be enough to see them win.
In other games, Grovedale slipped to second on the ladder after losing to South Barwon for the second time this season, but will hope to regain some key players from injury when they take on Newtown and Chilwell. Combined with that is the loss of the Two Blues star import Jordan Clark who has returned to England for County duties, meaning it’s hard to see Grovedale letting this one slip.
And in the third game, the very dangerous St Joseph’s take on East Belmont, the latter appearing to have regained the form that deserted them at times through January just at the right time.
The Lions will hope the return of Dave Lineen, who was rested last game, will be the impetus for a big finals series, but St Joseph’s form has been impeccable, and they will be very hard to beat.
In division two, Alexander Thomson did what many thought was impossible and have made the finals on the back of five consecutive victories since Christmas.
They will be chomping at the bit to take on Highton, and in their current form, who could back against them?
Bell Park finished the season in first place without losing a game, and deservedly go in premiership favourites. They will play Thomson, and although the Tigers boast some serious talent, they have struggled to play with any sort of consistency all season and will need to greatly improve all facets of their game if they are to challenge Bell Park here.
Lastly, Marshall take on Newcomb and District in a game that could go either way.
The two sides last met before Christmas in a game where the Bears won outright, but only after scraping through for first innings points and a generous declaration from the Dinos in the second innings.
Marshall have struggled to play at their best all season, relying on too few to get the job done, while Newcomb and District have enjoyed a more even spread of contributors, and that might be enough to see them start slight favourites.
