By Marcus Uhe
After a memorable run to last year’s Premier Cricket grand final playing exclusively one-day cricket, it would be easy to pigeon-hole Casey-South Melbourne as white ball specialists.
But the return of two-day cricket in recent weeks has proven fruitful for the Swans, plucking two wins in contrasting circumstances to keep them right in the hunt for a spot in the finals.
Having successfully chased 336 against Melbourne in round 12, Will Carr’s side made it back-to-back victories on Saturday, rolling Northcote for 199 to claim a 53-run victory.
For Carr, he said the versatility in his squad is the key.
“We’ve got a squad that’s pretty adaptable, flexible, a good mix of experienced and younger players, and the principals of the game are pretty similar,” Carr said.
“One of the strengths of our squad is the adaptability and flexibility of our side, and I think they’re certainly enjoying the red ball.
“Because we haven’t played red ball cricket for so long, it’s hard to know if it (was) going to suit us or not.
“We felt last year that the white ball suited our squad, but as the last two games have probably proven, we’re not too bad with the red ball either.”
The Swans were dealt a crucial blow during the week, losing captain Michael Wallace to injury after he was struck in the jaw at training, and likely to miss the remainder of the home-and-away season.
With the playing conditions forcing their hand from a strategic perspective, coercing them into a declaration having lost eight overs and an hour of play on the second day, Jackson Fry and Nathan Lambden set to work on the “dead” wicket at Bill Lawry Oval with a typically tight opening spell.
After seven overs the home side had crawled to just 2/3, forcing scoreboard pressure and allowing the spin tandem of Ruwantha Kellapotha and Luke Shelton to attack in the middle overs.
Between them, they bowled 47 of the Swans’ 78.4 overs, with the Kellapotha (30-10-4-53) returning excellent figures after his time in the Big Bash with the Melbourne Renegades.
Shelton, for his part, bagged 3/44 from his 17 overs.
“We probably would have liked to bat on a little bit for a few overs and lifted the total a bit more, but losing eight overs and trying to get 10 wickets, we felt that our best opportunity was to bowl as many balls as we possibly could in the day,” Carr said.
“Their spinners were most effective for them as well, which gave us a little bit of insight.
“We expected that the spinners would do a lot of work on that wicket because it was pretty dead and slow.
“(Kellapotha) he was outstanding on Saturday and well-supported by the other bowlers in Shelton Lambden and Fry.
“He’s just a quality player and a handful for any batter if he keeps bowling like that, that’s for sure.”
Despite sitting 10th on the ladder, the parity across the competition means they are just five points back from Richmond in fourth.
And with two two-day fixtures remaining, Carr said there’s confidence in the group that they can mix it with the competition’s best.
“The feeling’s good, we feel that if we play well enough we can beat anyone, if we play well enough for long enough,” Carr said.
“It’s a good challenge for us again this week with Footscray, the destiny’s in our own hands, so to speak.
“If we can get maximum points or maximise the opportunity this week, we’ll be one step closer.
“But we can’t really control the outcome too much, we’ll just play the way we play and feel that if we play somewhere near our best, it’ll give ourselves the best opportunity.”
Over at Shepley Oval, a fighting innings from Brett Forsyth has continued Dandenong’s revival under Glenn Marinic in Premier Cricket, holding on for a draw against Melbourne University.
The visitors declared on their day one total of 7-345, setting the Panthers 346 to win on a rain-shortened day, and got off to a perfect start, removing opener Tom Donnell in the first over for a duck, and number three Sahan Perera not long after for five, to have the home side on the back foot at 2-6.
Watching the chaos unfold at the other end, however, was Forsyth, who built partnerships with Josh Slater, Max Marinic and Angus Newman to restore stability to the Panthers’ innings, reaching a half-century in the 41st over.
Spin from both ends for the Students, including former Australian representative Fawad Ahmed, kept the pressure on the Panthers and made scoring tough as the sun emerged in the afternoon.
But as the century approached, Forsyth began to free his arms.
Two boundaries off Ahmed in one over took him into the 80s, and another two into the nineties, with the milestone in sight.
It would be Ahmed who had the last laugh, however, after the opening batter was bowled, having shouldered-arms on 97.
With the big wicket out of the way, the floodgates threatened to open for Melbourne University, with Angus Newman dismissed not long after Forsyth for just two.
It was up to Matthew Wilson, who finished 47 not out, and Ben Allison, to see-out the remaining overs and secure the draw with four wickets in hand and 142 runs in arrears.
