Barrier District Cricket League men’s Grand Finals this weekend could go either way, with clubs dominating the competition for the majority of the season only to lose form over the past four or five weeks, with other clubs improving at the pointy end of this season.
In the A Grade, North has dominated the competition for much of the season but were comprehensively beaten by West in their last encounter.
West is chasing three consecutive A Grade premierships and, as in the past two seasons, will be approaching this game with the attitude that a champion team will beat a team of champions.
North probably do have two or three players of superior quality over their opponents, while West has a more even spread of ability and appear to perform better when the “chips are down” and have what it takes in a pressure cooker situation.
It must be remembered though that Matt Handberg is not playing this season and he has been the player of the finals in West’s last two premiership wins.
As far as North is concerned this Grand Final hinges heavily on the batting performances of Ben Jurd, Tobias Hack, and Codie Howard. When two of the three players have clicked during the season, invariably North has won the game. Howard to my way of thinking must bat higher up the order as I still rate him the best batter in the local competition.
West has a fair amount of penetration in its bowling attack with Laurence Hebbard probably the best fast bowler in town and Peter Christos not far behind him.
Adam Perry has developed his spinners this season, so much so that West may not really miss the absence of Handberg.
Early wickets will be the name of the game if West is to restrict North to a score under 150 runs. This is a tally that West would see as being achievable for their batters to chase down.
North’s bowling has relied heavily on Austin Wilson, Jackson Cain, and Ben Jurd to make early inroads into the batting since an injury to Michael Maalste. Once the sheen wears off the new white ball however, their bowling can look fairy pedestrian.
Spinner Jordan Vella has also looked to lack a bit of penetration this season since returning from injury and he will need to be at his best to have an impact on this game. The Attard brothers, Max Everuss, and Peter Christos will all need to find good touch with the bat if they are to capitalise on North’s possible lack of penetration with the ball.
In what promises to be a great cricket spectacle, I think North can get up to end West’s run of premiership wins. I expect either Ben Jurd or Tobias Hack to get going with the bat with Codie Howard to also play a major role in this game.
In the B Grade Grand Final, Warriors and North will face off at the Norm Fox Sports Complex with Warriors having dominated this grade for the majority of the season.
Warriors’ record in recent Grand Finals however will mean that they will go into this game with some trepidation. Over the last 10 seasons, they have earnt the reputation of being a perennial ‘bridesmaid’ and with a few players missing today, they will be hellbent on shaking that tag.
Warriors’ fortunes will rest with Rheece Pavlich, Clint Pearce and Chris West with the bat and Ash Bates with the ball. If these players all fire they will be well on the way to some celebratory drinks tonight.
North has emerged from nowhere this season to make the Grand Final and this is where they are at their dangerous best. McEvoy, Victory, Tidball and Bell have had plenty of senior experience with the ball under their belts while Rogers, McEvoy, Bell, Tidball and De Vries are all handy with the willow and capable of setting a handy tally for Warriors to chase.
This could again be another epic B Grade Grand Final. I will select Warriors, based on their good form this season but it is with little conviction. North could yet again prove they are the giant killers.
