1st XI report

After a very disappointing 18/19, all the boys were keen to sink our teeth in to the season. Recruits Trent Evans, Michael Casement, James Petrovski and overseas Matt Bell came into the mix and added even more depth to a deep squad and this was always going to put pressure on players to perform their best week in and week out which was great.

We set up a similar game plan to the previous season that we found had some positive success and all of the boys bought in. It requires buy in from all players otherwise it can fall over. Our early games showed that we were invested. Because of the format changes we had to make a lot of changes throughout the year as our best two day bowlers didn’t always fit the shorter formats and vice versa. This gave 18 different players an opportunity to play 1st XI cricket throughout the year with a further 3-4 being discussed heavily at selection. We also found we were able to put guys down during different formats to keep them in form for future games which we saw worked at times. Clearly making the GF showed that we got our mix right.

Highlights

The development of the younger brigade.

               ⁃             McGowan’s handful of games in which he showed massive improvement. Figures of 6/91 against Upwey a feature

               ⁃             Nixon playing a pivotal role in short format games

               ⁃             Adam Wylde solidifying himself as a top-grade talent with multiple 40+ scores

               ⁃             Dyl getting us home in a tricky position in the prelim.

Big Runs

               ⁃             5 bats over 250 runs for the year and 2 more over 200

               ⁃             3 centuries

               ⁃             Lots of 50’s

               ⁃             The emergence of the bash bros

McInerney

               ⁃             He led from the front. He showed that he can be the main man and delivered with 31 wickets.

The Rest

               ⁃             Trent, Case, Wilb and Nav all played pivotal roles throughout the year to keep us in positive positions. Whilst we didn’t have a lot of big wicket hauls, we spread the load amongst the group. OUTSTANDING teamwork.

The Great Escapes

               ⁃             vs Footballers 3/180 chasing 280. All out 259. Wilba takes 4 to get us home.

               ⁃             Vs Upwey, KG 9/212 chasing 244 and Wilba and King get us home with a ball to spare.

The Game that we knew we had arrived

               ⁃             against the Reigning premier who were still a very good team - we made 287 and followed our game plan to a tee and dismissed them for 143

It was at that stage the group really started to believe we could go all the way.

Unfortunately, in round 11 we came up against a red hot Lysterfield and we just had a stinker. With Butch at ‘another’ wedding and with injuries early to myself and Boof we were just never in the game, however during that game we saw enough to know what we had to do to win. That loss put us second and we would play the beavers again in the qualifier.

We planned and executed pretty well. A couple of crucial line ball decisions didn’t fall our way and some key moments we let slip and the beavers capitalized. However, this time we definitely knew exactly what we needed to do if we were to meet again.

The prelim was a huge game for the club. Having never won a top-grade final in the club’s history it was good to get the monkey off the back. A really solid performance from everyone showed that if we played well, we could beat anyone. Especially beating Knoxfield who have been a huge bogey team for many years.

Disappointingly we never got the opportunity to play in the GF due to Rona. I hate Rona. Cost me a premiership. I have no doubt that we would have won that game. We had worked so hard as a group and truly deserved the opportunity.

It was not to be. This will make us hungrier to go again. I am certain that Jack and Bails will have us up and about early and I am looking forward to getting stuck into it.

Whenever that may be.

Thank you to the committee. Your tireless work does not go unnoticed. We appreciate all that you do to get us on the park.

Finally, a huge shout out to Matt and Paige. We loved having you with us and we hope we gave you some lifelong memories. I’m wrapped that Matt finally showered after peer pressure in round 4. Welcome back anytime guys.

See you all soon my falcon friends.

Pete