Confusion in Grampians
Confusion reigns in Grampians Cricket Association with the executive left with a problem.
Because of an alteration to the A Grade draw to fit in a T20 round, clubs were left with the option of playing round seven on either December 23 or January 6. Seven clubs opted for December and one for January.
The odd club out was Pomonal, claiming it would be missing key players on the 23rd in its match against Swifts-great Western. The Combine claimed the same reason for not playing on the 6th, so the match is yet to be played.
The GCA executive is left with the decision of either ordering both clubs to play on some future Sunday, or somehow coming to an equitable division of points.
To add to the conundrum, B Grade cricket was cancelled on Saturday under the heat policy.
In the three games that were played, Youth Club overcame Aradale thanks to a dashing century from the Clubbers’ Nic Baird.
Aradale batted first and thanks to Scotty Turner, 60, and Cameron Ralph, 38, posted a respectable 9-158, but with Baird’s 105no, the Clubbers defeated Aradale for the second time this season.
The other matches went according to ladder positions, with Buangor 2-131 accounting for Navarre 8-128, Shaun Allen scored an unbeaten half century for Buangor and Tom Hannett top scored with 62 for the Grasshoppers.
At home, Tatyoon scored 8-145, with Jarrod Blandford leading the way with 77. In reply Halls Gap could only manage 85.
The highlight of this match was young Gapper Jackson Thomas taking a hat-trick, including the prize wicket of Blandford.
Round eight will be a one-day fixture with the main game being Swifts-great Western against Youth Club, with top spot the prize for the winner.
The Clubbers will be hoping for a repeat performance from Baird. In the earlier match, the Combine easily defeated the Clubbers thanks to Matt Heffer’s five wickets and an unbeaten century from James Devery. Much will depend on player availability.
In other matches, Buangor hosts Pomonal at Alexandra Oval with Buangor, because of its depth, favoured to win.
Chris Jerram, Shaun Allen and Jacob Bates have all scored heavily at some stage during the season and pose a problem for Tigers bowlers Matt Grinham and Lee Oliver.
Buangor has a varied attack, with paceman Jack Ganley and spinners Lachie Oddie and Chris Jerram who will test batsmen Luke Jordan and Sam Spark.
Navarre will host Tatyoon, with the Hawks anxious to keep in touch with the four.
Much will depend on the availability of the Tatyoon players due to harvest.
This will not be a problem for Navarre as the harvest is generally finished.
Jarrod Blandford is in good touch for the Hawks and will pose a problem for Grasshopper bowlers.
In the final match, Aradale travels to Halls Gap with the knowledge that a loss would be a disaster at this stage of the season.
Scotty Turner is Aradale’s top run-getter at this stage, and backed up by Brent Tate and Riley Wood, should score enough runs to earn the six points.