Magpies scattered – Dandenong opener Brett For

By Paul Pickering
AN all-round assault from Dave Newman led Dandenong to a crushing victory over Camberwell at Shepley Oval on the weekend.
Newman top-scored with 61 as the home side posted 283 on Saturday, then snared 4/27 as the loaded Panthers pace attack skittled the Magpies for just 148 on Sunday.
Camberwell skipper Simon Hill invited Dandenong to bat, but his designs on quick wickets were thwarted by a patient half-century stand from openers Tom Donnell (32) and Brett Forsyth (20).
Neither could hang around long enough to capitalise on their efforts and when Matt Chasemore (13) and Darren Dempsey (27) wasted their starts, the Panthers had slumped to 4/129.
Newman (61 from 126 balls) was set by that stage and happy to play the anchor role in an 83-run partnership with emerging star James Nanopoulos.
The young all-rounder blasted 49 from just 48 balls – including six fours and three sixes – to break the game open.
Camberwell’s Mark Dwyer (2/38) brought Nanopoulos’ entertaining innings to an end, before Magpie leg-spinner Joe Roberts (5/73) made Newman the first of his five scalps for the afternoon.
The Panthers progressed to 283 on the strength of handy cameos from Brent Fairbanks (25) and James Pattinson (15).
Pattinson, fresh from an encouraging Victorian debut the previous weekend, took the new ball with Paul Boraston on Sunday morning, but Tom Evans (28) and Aaron Maynard (33) provided staunch resistance.
Boraston (1/37) claimed the vital breakthrough, trapping Maynard in front with the score at 64.
From there the Magpies had no answers to the likes of Newman and Darren Pattinson (2/33), losing the next nine wickets for a further 84 runs.
Dandenong coach Warren Ayres called the win “comprehensive” and Newman’s performance “exceptional”, but he saved the highest praise for the young game-breaker Nanopoulos.
“I thought our bowlers were outstanding and our batsmen were very good, but when Nanopoulos came in and made 49 off not many, he turned the game on its head,” he reflected.
Ayres was just as keen to highlight Pattinson Senior’s form in his first game back from a groin injury, noting that he could easily have taken a bag of wickets with a bit more luck.
The coach is also pondering the mouth-watering prospect of test paceman Peter Siddle returning for Saturday’s clash with Hawthorn-Monash University.
Siddle was set to play for Victoria in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India, but the postponement of the tour might allow him to suit up for the Panthers. “I think this could be the only weekend that it’s a chance,” Ayres said, adding that it would be up to national selectors whether Siddle played.
“James, Darren and Pete are all fantastic men and they’re all going places in the game, so to have one game where they all play together would be something for them to cherish,” Ayres said.