Five in a row...
Swifts-great Western defeated Buangor-tatyoon in straight sets during the weekend to claim Grampians Cricket Association’s Mcdonald Shield.
The win was the fifth straight season the Combine has won the shield, a remarkable effort considering the team had lost five players from the previous premiership side.
In the best-of-three finals format the first match was at Tatyoon, where the Combine asked the Hawks to bat and claimed early success to quickly have the home side 3-20.
This brought Jarrod Blandford, 38, and Tyler Cronin, 32, to the crease in an attempt to steady the ship.
The Combine, through Will Clough, 3-29, and Tom Fitzgerald, 2-21, were able to restrict the Hawks to 7-127 off the 40 allocated overs.
In reply, the Combine lost opener Sam Cocks on 14 but then the Eckel brothers Tom and Jess combined for a 72-run partnership that assured the Combine of a win.
The innings closed at 3-129 with 39 balls to spare.
On Sunday at Stawell’s Central Park and in front of a good crowd, the Combine won the toss and batted and reached 8-143, mainly due to a 60-run third-wicket partnership between Tom Eckel, 46, and up-and-comer Jack Cann, 42.
Best of the Hawks bowlers were Sam Cronin, 3-20, and James Phillips 2-31.
Having to win this match to keep their chances alive, the Hawks quickly lost two wickets to Will Clough, 2-18, and it was again left to Blandford, 16, and Tyler Cronin, 24, in conjunction with opener Riley Wood, 44, to rescue the innings.
At 3-88 the Hawks looked to be in with a big chance, but at the fall of Wood’s wicket the Combine was able to break through regularly and at 9-131 and needing a run a ball for the last two overs, it became an exciting game of cricket.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, number-11 batsmen Callum Baker, in attempting to hit Matt Heffer out of the ground, holed out and the premiership was the Combine’s.
The innings was not without drama. When Combine wicketkeeper Sam Cocks caught James Phillips, he attempted to throw the ball in the air but dropped it. The umpires conferred and ruled that he had held the ball for long enough for a legal catch.
The Combine’s bowling honors went to Brady Miller with 4-24 and umpires Andy Farish and Phil Rodger, awarded the Steve ‘Wombat’ Smith Memorial Medal to Tom Eckel of Swifts-great Western as most valuable player in the finals.
In the B Grade grand final, St Andrews regained entry into A Grade ranks by defeating Swifts-great Western.
Batting first, the Combine reached 4-166 with the highlight being opener Craig Marrow carrying his bat for nine.
In reply, the Saints, with more aggressive running between wickets and unbeaten 69 from James Menzies, were able to reach 5-167 with 25 balls to spare.
Grand finals – A Grade: One, at Tatyoon, Swiftsgreat Western 3-129 (J. Eckel 34, T. Eckel 34, R Peters 24no) d Buangor-tatyoon 7-127 (J. Blandford 38, T Cronin 32; W. Clough 3-29); two, at Stawell’s Central Park, Swifts-great Western 8-143 (T. Eckel 46, J. Cann 42; S. Cronin 3-20) d Buangor-tatyoon 134 (R. Wood 44, T. Cronin 24; B. Miller 4-24). B Grade: St Andrews 5-167 (J. Menzies 69no, R. Skiller 39) d Swifts-great Western 5-166 (C. Marrow 91no, T. Nicholson 23).