By David Nagel
WGCA PREMIER DIVISION
REVIEW/PREVIEW – ROUNDS 11 and 12
Does anyone else feel it ironic that Kooweerup champion Matt Davey will celebrate a remarkable milestone on the most influential round of cricket for the season?
Ironic, because influence – a unique characteristic that very few cricketers can express – is something that the Kooweerup legend has had in abundance.
Uncompromising, ruthless, but very fair, Davey has played a key role in eight premierships with the Demons since his Under 12 debut as a seven-year-old almost 30 years ago.
He took 5/7 in just his second game … and has been influencing cricket matches ever since.
And for the last 25 years – and approximately 400 games – the Demons’ all-rounder has been wielding that influence in the senior XI, a milestone his club will celebrate when it hosts Pakenham in an Australia Day blockbuster at Denhams Road on Thursday.
This game, which will be completed on Saturday February 4, sees the top-two teams collide, and coincides with another great contest to be played between third and fourth on the ladder when Tooradin makes the trip to Cardinia.
Round 12, the return of 80-over two-day cricket, the top four do battle, the celebration of a club icon – home-and-away cricket just doesn’t get any better than this!
The run home to this year’s premiership – it begins now.
The Lions ended Kooweerup’s dream of going back-to-back-to-back last year in a grand final classic, as expected played in great spirit and going all the way down to the wire.
The Lions are the heir apparent, just last weekend adding the WGCA Twenty20 crown to its Premier Division success in March.
Captain of that T20-winning team, Jack Anning, says the Lions are excited to be part of Davey’s and Kooweerup’s big day.
“I’m not even 25 years old, so for him to be playing for that long and still be one of the best players in the competition is remarkable to me,” Anning said.
“To have a grand final record like his, how he stands up under pressure, it’s something we can all aspire to. We’re excited to be playing in a game that honours him; hopefully we can pick him up cheaply and then have a beer after the game and celebrate what has been a magnificent career.”
Anning said Davey is highly respected by his Palenham club.
“I’ve played against him since I was 14 or 15 and he’s always been the bloke that you want to get out, because he and Chris O’Hara are two of the best players in the league, not just at their club,” he said.
“He plays it hard, but fair, he’s a terrific bat and he’s unreal with the ball and I’ve lost count how many times he’s got me out.”
Anning said regular season captain Dom Paynter had drilled into side that winning the Twenty20 crown was an important stepping stone for the challenges that lay ahead.
“Every Twenty20 we played, Dom would say before the game that success breeds success, if you continue to win it keeps everything flowing strongly for the future,” Anning said.
“We know it’s a stepping stone, we’re excited to win it but it’s not the be all and end all. Ultimately we want to go back to back in the Premier division and we’re not shying away from that fact.”
Thursday, day one of this contest, will quite rightly celebrate a magnificent career indeed, Davey fending off an early-career offer from the Lions to remain the most loyal player in the last 25 years of the competition.
“Loyalty is probably the thing I’m most proud of,” Davey told the Gazette in the early part of the season.
“I had the Pakenham offer and could have gone to Catani at one stage for pretty good money, but loyalty is really important to me. That’s the biggest thing, loyalty and mates for me. That and the premierships obviously.”
So who does he rate as his heroes?
“Before my time there was John and George Glasscock, then Ron and Jack Ingram – Jack was probably the best keeper I’ve seen – then Geoff Miller and Chris McConnell, who were great cricketers, really competitive guys,” Davey explained.
“Geoff would be one of the best bats I’ve seen, a classy left hander. Mick Glasscock swung it a mile, made it talk, and could bat a bit. Doofy’s (Michael Giles) the most damaging batsman I’ve seen, and he was consistent for the way he played, and obviously Tubsy (O’Hara) has been a star, probably the best batsman the club has seen since Miller and a big-game player.”
Matthew Davey – your name sits more than comfortably among that elite list of players.
Let’s take a look at how Round 11, the final round of one-day cricket for the season, panned out.
PAKENHAM (7/146) v UPPER BEACONSFIELD (145)
A career-first hat-trick to Pakenham skipper Dom Paynter was the clear highlight of the Lions three-wicket win over Upper Beaconsfield (145) at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday.
Paynter capitalised on some late-order urgency from the Maroons, knocking over the stumps of Scott Pitcher (8), catching the edge of Kyle Gibbs (0) before cart-wheeling the stumps of an over-zealous Tiron Fernando (0) to chalk up cricket’s version of a hole-in-one.
Fernando took an almighty swing at the ball, and missed, sending a large crowd, which included the Lions life members and sponsors into raptures.
Make no mistake; the Lions had to fight hard for this win.
They were outplayed in the first 20 overs of the match as the Maroons top order of Julian Bayard (28), Dulan Berman (43) and Bath Perera (27) capitalised on some uncharacteristic sloppiness from the home side.
Bayard and Berman applied the pressure with a 73-run stand for the second wicket – a solid base, but no real structures were added throughout the course of the afternoon.
The Lions reversed the pressure after the drinks break, their mantra of ‘doing it better for longer’ starting to take effect.
The main instigator for the Lions form-reversal was former Maroon Tom Tyrrell (1/17 off 8) who used his ‘you miss and I hit’ line and length to full effect against his former team-mates.
Tyrrell has become a significant asset for the Lions this season, and his solid pace and accuracy look perfectly suited to a finals campaign.
Two players who have experienced the high and lows of finals campaigns before, Sean Gramc (2/28 off 5) and Jason Williams (2/31 off 8), took the pace off the ball beautifully, combining with Tyrrell to take those three key wickets mentioned earlier.
Paynter’s (3/20 off 8) hat-trick put the finishing touches on an already very tidy spell from the opener.
The Lions started badly in reply.
Williams (0) and Chris Smith (14) both hit easy catches to square leg, both of the bowling of Kyle Gibbs (2/7 off 8) who hit his areas with monotonous regularity. Gibbs and Williams had words during the day, with the Maroons left-hander was more than happy to give Williams his marching orders upon his dismissal.
The Lions – they needed to consolidate.
Rob Elston (19) does consolidation better than most, and his partnership with Zac Chaplin (25) appeared to have the Lions back on track. But both fell, followed by Chris Savage (4), to leave the home side struggling at 5/72.
Pitcher (3/33 off 8) had his leggies on line but the Lions picked and poked at the remainder of the Maroons’ attack. Paynter (11) and Gramc (33) looked comfortable before the skipper trod on his stumps, before Gramc joined forces with Tyrrell (18 not out) and Jack Anning (12 not out) to steer his side home under pressure.
Pitcher and Gibbs were clear top picks for the Maroons, who still harbour hopes of playing finals.
They need to win all three of their remaining matches against Emerald, Merinda Park and Cardinia to have any hope of making it through. They also need the Bulls to fall short against top-two contenders Tooradin and Kooweerup before they meet that said foe in Round 14.
MERINDA PARK (116) v KOOWEERUP (2/117)
Kooweerup has stretched its ominous winning streak to eight after the Demons toyed with a disappointing Merinda Park outfit at Donnelly Reserve on Saturday.
A suffocating performance with the ball set up victory for the Demons, while further top-order dominance flowed with the bat. The Demons cruised to victory with eight wickets and eight overs left in the locker.
The bowling performance was all the more impressive considering the Demons entered the match without one of its star all-rounders in Jess Mathers. The fiery quick has bowled 30 overs more than any of his team-mates this season but was barely missed as the Demons struck a perfect line and length.
Andrew Martin (31) and Manu Goraya (26) were the only Cobras to fire after John Bright (2/11 off 6) returned to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs to get the Demons off to a flyer.
Bright took a hat-trick against the Cobras almost two years ago to the day, in round 11, 2015. He struck early, removing Simon Parrott (1) on Saturday, and the Demons were on their way.
John received great support from his brothers Paul (1/18 off 7) and Matt (1/25 off 7), while skipper Mark Cooper (1/21 off 8) and the cheeky medium-pacers of Chris O’Hara (2/6 off 2) were also effective.
It will be fascinating to see how Cooper manipulates his attack over the final three rounds in preparation for a premiership assault. You get the feeling that Mathers, O’Hara and Matt Davey, who bowled a single over against the Cobras, will get more bowling through the month of February.
The Demons had no issues in response, with the classy top three of Cooper (44 not out), O’Hara (26) and Ben Spicer (29) making batting look easy – it’s what they do!
Chris Bright (14 not out) made it a productive day for the family, while Dylan Cuthbertson (1/22 off 8) was a clear top pick for the Cobras.
Cooper knows the Demons face a tough run home with Pakenham, Cardinia and Tooradin on the horizon.
This was his response after the Gazette suggested his side’s recent run of form made them premiership favourites.
“We’ve proven nothing yet, we haven’t played a top-four team since Round 2 and we’ve got a tough run home,” Cooper said.
“The 80-over format looks like it should suit us but we have to go out and prove it now.”
Merinda Park should bounce back on the winning list this week against Pakenham Upper/Toomuc.
PAKENHAM UPPER/TOOMUC (164) v TOORADIN (9/233)
Anyone with anything to do with the WGCA knows how important Aaron Avery is to the Tooradin Cricket Club.
A hugely popular former leader of the club, Avery has been a familiar face at Westernport Oval since his junior days.
But, for the last two years, his batting has gone missing.
On Saturday Avery (71) gave a timely reminder of his class, relishing his first hit in the top-three this season with a stylish half-century against Pakenham Upper/Toomuc.
It was his first half-century in the Premier Division in exactly two years and exactly what the doctor ordered for the Seagulls as a potent list heads for the promised land.
Avery cracked six boundaries and two sixes against the Yabbies, taking the opportunity provided by skipper Tom Hussey (2 not out) who dropped down the order to help fine-tune his team-mates.
Hussey may well have become the best-credentialed number 11 to have ever played in the WGCA on Saturday, with 487 runs at an average of almost 70.
But Huss made this about his team, with Cal O’Hare (45), Josh Lownds (39) and Bradey Welsh (20) sure to better for the hit out. Greg Shallard (3/35 off 6), Nick Kyval (3/52 off 7) and Mitch Mibus (2/40 off 6) all copped some stick for the Yabbies but lived to tell multiple success stories.
The Yabbies had plenty of starters in reply, but only Lucas Plozza (55) would kick on to anything significant. Plozza had six of his comrades’ make double figures but none could get into the 20s as Kade Burns (2/18 off 5) and Lownds (2/38 off 7) took control.
The Seagulls face a huge challenge this week with a two-day visit to Cardinia to take on champion spinner Dwayne Doig. The Bulls champ bowled 25.1 overs, bowled six maidens and took figures of 4/45 in the last two-dayer between the clubs last season.
EMERALD (9/148) v CARDINIA (4/149)
Cardinia is fully prepared for a huge two months of cricket after an impressive victory over Emerald at Chandler Reserve.
It’s full steam ahead for the Bulls who face Tooradin, Kooweerup and Upper Beaconsfield before what they hope will be an extended finals campaign. Their key batsmen and bowlers are in form; Ben Maroney escaped suspension at a tribunal hearing during the week, so the Bulls are cherry-ripe for a shot at this year’s title.
It was their slow bowlers who did the damage against the Bombers.
Just like they did against Pakenham last week, the Bulls took the pace off the ball nicely with Dwayne Doig (3/26 off 7) and Country Week newcomer Travis Wheller (3/18 off 8) sharing the last six wickets to fall.
The spin-twins made the most of Brody Pearse’s (2/27 off 8) efforts with the new ball and a miserly spell of bowling from Kim Bentick (0/17 off 8). AJ Walker (45) top scored for the millionth time in his career, while Geordie Scott (20) and Clinton Marsh (20) gave the Bulls something to aim at after tea.
But what looked to be a challenging total proved a walk in the park, with Neil Barfuss (42), Ricky Campbell (38) and Maroney (18 not out) getting the job done with 11 overs to spare.
Trent Rolfs (2/36 off 6) claimed the key double of Barfuss and Campbell but the Bombers’ attack was basically handled with ease.
The Bombers face Upper Beaconsfield, Tooradin and Pakenham Upper/Toomuc in their final three games for the season.
