Great season for Lightning

LINDISFARNE has completed the first CTPL whitewash in a decade in unprecedented fashion, and there is little doubt the result was deserved.

The Lightning were crowned premiers — adding to the Twenty20 and Kookaburra Cup titles they had already banked — after the two-day finals series was cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis.

It ensured the club defended its red-ball crown and while not in the fashion it wanted, having been the clear dominant side all season no one could argue.

“It is unprecedented times, but I think while it is a bit of a weird feeling I think you still need to look back on the positives and take a bit of pride in the fact we finished on top,” star batsman Charlie Wakim said. “In a few years’ time we’ll look back on the season as a real positive one.

“We are in an exciting time with our club at the moment, we have won the last four premierships in a row and we are building a strong culture.

“The challenge now is to keep improving and keep being the hunted.”

Not since North Hobart in 2009-10 has a club completed the treble in the same season.

Clarence was awarded the women’s premiership by virtue of being the highest-ranked team in the canned final.

The Roos finished the regular season in third but knocked off Greater Northern Raiders in last weekend’s semifinals, while South HobartSandy Bay was their opponent after they toppled minor premier New Town.

“It is a bit of a different situation and probably hasn’t happened too many times before, but we have to be happy with the season we have been able to produce, having a few of our girls in and out of the team over Big Bash and the WNCL season,” Roo Courtney Webb said. “A lot of our younger girls have really stepped up when they needed to.”

The lower-grade premierships were awarded to teams that finished on top of the ladder after the roster season.

Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin said after a meeting with all the state and territory associations earlier in the week, the decision wasn’t difficult. “We thought we might be able to play the premier league final here [Blundstone Arena] with a closed stadium, but every other association was going to cancel, so it became an easy answer,” he said.