By Jonty Ralphsmith
Doveton will have it all to play for in Ryan Hendy’s final game of competitive cricket this Saturday.
The Doves will hope to send their club stalwart, who leads the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) Turf 2 wickets tally this season, out with a win against Cranbourne.
Past players have been invited to their home base at Robinson Reserve to celebrate a fine career, with Star News to print a tribute to his playing days in the next edition of our papers.
Equally, though, for Doveton, it will be desperate for the win to avoid relegation from Turf 2.
When Hendy returned to the club, it sat in Turf 4, but he was upfront about his ambition to return the club to a competitive Turf 1 side.
If not for some bad luck, and perhaps with an extra batter to solidify the middle order, the Doves would likely be around the mark for finals.
Instead, in a tight competition, it faces the prospect of relegation, if it follows up a loss this week with a defeat to Lyndale in the final home-and-away round.
He’s always been known as a big name player – perhaps one final special outing from Hendy to see out his career?
“The emotions aren’t really there at the moment,” Hendy said.
“I’m sure come Saturday when I know I’m playing my last game, they might kick in a bit.
“Obviously it’s a sad time when you come to the realisation that you’re a bit older now and you have to give up the game you’ve loved for so long.
“It’ll be a strange feeling on Saturday waking up knowing it’s the last game I’ll play, but I’m pretty content with it.
“I haven’t been able to train much for the last two to three years with other commitments I’ve got going on.
“I’ll miss being around a cricket club I’ve been around for so long but all good things have to come to an end eventually.”
The Eagles will have to put the emotions of a DDCA stalwart retiring to one side to solidify their position in the top four.
Presently, their top four fate is in their own hands, but a loss would change that, with the two chasing teams facing off against each other on the weekend
Parkfield, sixth, will host Narre Warren, fifth, in a crunch home clash.
A win, particularly by a big margin, for the Bandits would suddenly catapult it into finals reckoning going into the final round of the home and away season, just one week after playing off essentially to avoid relegation.
Narre Warren, too, needs to win to keep its season alive, having fallen outside the top four with a loss to the Eagles last week.
Lyndale, meanwhile, take on Heinz Southern Districts in a crucial top four clash where both teams will be looking to regain form and lock in a finals spot.
Lyndale, which was the surprise packet before Christmas, has lost its last three, including a tight loss over then bottom-placed Keysborough last week.
A loss for Lyndale would see it fall out of the top four if Cranbourne and Narre both win.
HSD, which will regain skipper Craig Hookey, will be desperate to bounce back from a meek display against top-placed Beaconsfield, and it still needs a win to absolutely guarantee finals, despite the young squad sitting in the top two for much of the season.
Beaconsfield will look to sustain its form and ensure its individuals are primed against Keysborough in the other match.
The Knights will still be searching for another one given it is only just off the bottom of the ladder.
