Grampians wash out

Rain has again caused Grampians Cricket Association to cancel competition, leaving just one out of the three possible rounds being played.

With forfeits occurring in round one, some teams are yet to take to the field.

If cricket was to experience a couple of ‘extreme heat policy’ days later in the summer, the cricket season might be very short indeed.

Round four is another one-day match, with the principal game being between Chalambar and Youth Club at Alexandra Oval, Ararat.

This will allow Chalambar to see where it fits in A Grade – a win, or even a competitive loss, would give the club great confidence heading into the rest of the season.

Youth Club has all the attributes to test any side: hard hitting batsmen, steady bowlers, good fielding ability and, above all, experience on turf wickets – something ‘Chally’ has not experienced recently.

Chalambar;s only appearance against Halls Gap was encouraging, and it will again look to Luke Walker and Ryan Bertram for runs, and Matthew ‘Moon’ Mckinnis with his left-arm tweakers for wickets.

The Clubbers’ main weakness appears to be their openers, but they can overcome this with batting depth, which will challenge

Chalambar’s bowlers. The Clubbers’ bowlers did the job against the Combine last time. Jarrod Illig will lead the attack, along with Cam Kimber and Damon Folkes.

In other matches St Andrews will play Halls Gap at Gordon Street, Ararat, in a match St Andrews will be hoping to add to its round-one victory.

Halls Gap will be under pressure from Saints bowlers Michael Harricks, Tom Mills and Jake Robinson, who will be aiming to dismiss Gappers gun bat Charlie Mcintosh who, with Josh Leith, offers the biggest threat to a win.

The Saints have batting potential in Aaron Byron, Harricks, and James Hosking.

In the final match, Swifts-great Western is at home to Pomonal at Central Park, Stawell.

Both clubs lost their first matches and will be looking to kick-start their seasons with a win in.

Lachlan Dalkin and Mick Armstrong will lead the bowling. The pair did a fair job against the Saints, but will be tested against the Combine’s batting line-up, which includes master-blaster Sam Cocks and an in-form Travis Nicholson.

They will need to be on the job because the Tigers’ batting was lacking against the Saints and a big run chase could go against them.