Winch attack gives batters opportunity - again
WINCHELSEA has again sent a message to the rest of the competition with a commanding bowling performance on Saturday, but coach Mitch Troy says it will not be making the same mistakes it has previously with the bat.
One week after a batting collapse cost them a win over ladder leader Queenscliff, Troy’s men showed their prowess with the ball, skittling Newcomb for 76 from 57 overs.
“We had a plan at the start of the day — plans sometimes work and sometimes fail — and they worked again,” he said.
“We’ve still got a couple out with injury and unavailability, so all we wanted to do was give some different guys a go.”
Overs and wickets were spread across the bowling line-up with Dean Hampshire (1-10) and Finn Parish (2-6) making the most of their opportunities, while openers Riley Berg (3-8) and Matthew Partridge (2-16) ensured it was a tricky batting innings for Newcomb.
Winchelsea goes into next week on 2-22, with newly promoted top order batters Tom Stevenson and Matt Nelson the two men out.
Troy said the plan was to bat time, knowing two weeks ago it was in a similar position against Queenscliff before being dismissed for 99.
“Hopefully we’ve learnt from our mistakes,” he said.
“We are always confident, if you’re not confident you probably shouldn’t be playing cricket.
“Unfortunately we’ve had two mishaps but we need to learn from those and try and rectify it.” The focus is find out the best XI. “We’re going to have to make some tough decisions — vying for spots is a great thing,” Troy said. BPCA A2 TOP THREE 99* 78 78 A pair of 78s from top order batsman Grant Cheeseman, pictured, and tail ender Matthew Richmond has given Little River 290 to defend next week. Cheeseman was dismissed at 4-152 but contributions from the middle order highlighted by Richmond now mean Little River has a huge chance to grab its first win of the season.