Captain’s call goes out to Anglesea’s batsmen
ANGLESEA captain Ned Cooper has again put the onus on his batting unit to deliver more runs after making hard work of a modest chase against Collendina on Saturday.
Resuming at 2-17 and chasing 105 for victory, Anglesea had Simon Umbers (53) and Dale Kerr (32) to largely thank for getting it home, eventually finishing 9-150.
Thanks to Kerr’s 21 wickets this season, Anglesea’s batsmen haven’t had a lot of work to do, but have passed 200 once this season.
“There’s still plenty of work to do,” Cooper said.
“We need to get some continuity into the side. With some ins and outs, there’s a lot of blokes missing weeks, so we’d like a set batting line-up.
“We need guys batting long periods of time, and we’ve had some guys who haven’t had a hit since Round 2 who didn’t really take their chance on the weekend.”
With Cooper (1) and Stephen Jacimovic (0) already dismissed by Jye Hearps (3-45) at the end of day one last week, it was left to Umbers to anchor the innings on day two.
Umbers and Kerr cut through most of the target before Brett Venables (24 not out) enjoyed some time in the middle.
Craig Goodger (3-35) eventually dismissed Umbers, but not before the target had been reeled in.
“A lot of guys fell around him and he stayed in there all day and got himself to 50 and got us over the line before he decided to play a few shots,” Cooper said of Umbers’s innings.
“He anchored the innings.”
The victory leaves Anglesea outright top of the BPCA A1 ladder, even if the win itself was far from the perfect showing.
“It probably just wasn’t a great display of chasing down a small total, to be honest,” Cooper said.
“We got ourselves out during the day and still managed to get over the line in the end, but it wasn’t as convincing as you would like chasing 105.”