DAVE: Righto boys, we watched our last cricket action for the year on Saturday. Jonty, kick us off mate with your best action from the weekend.
JONTY: My best action was opening the MyCricket App and seeing that Jackson Marie went absolutely ballistic and…
DAVE: MyCricket or PlayHQ?
JONTY: Sorry PlayHQ.
DAVE: For starters, I’m surprised you could open the bloody thing…it’s a disaster! Sorry, go on.
JONTY: Jackson Marie went ballistic, but the best action I saw came from Dandy West opener Shaun Weir. In the second over he absolutely dispatched Cooper Thomss over mid-wicket for six and it set the foundation for his innings. It got tight in the end, but he made a run-a-ball 61 to guide Dandy West to victory over Narre Warren. He made it look simple on a pitch that looked a big challenge to bat on. It was on his birthday as well.
DAVE: That always adds an extra bit of lustre to the story. Marcus, your best from the weekend?
MARCUS: I could go Corey Bevan again, taking another excellent catch, but I won’t at risk or repeating myself. My best action came from Springvale South all-rounder Yoshan Kumara, who nailed a run out from the deep-cover boundary. He chased a ball and gathered, just before it got to the rope, and turn and threw in one action and made a direct hit. It reduced St Mary’s to 6/34…
DAVE: So a 50 to 60-metre direct hit?
MARCUS: Yep, and it was one of those ones where the bowler is in a position to take it, but pulls his hands away at the last second and the ball cannons into the stumps. It happened right in front of where I was standing…so a shout out to Yoshan.
DAVE: Did it swing in the air or did it fly like a tracer bullet?
MARCUS: Didn’t swing an inch; dead-eye!
DAVE: In last week’s paper boys I said Luke McMaster is about to explode…and I finally got one right!
JONTY: I said the same about Jackson Marie; that he’s ready for a big hundred (148 off 118 balls).
DAVE: Well Luke made 145 not, off 106 balls, and hit 16 fours and five big ones. Luke has this ability to hit good balls for six, and his second six off Trent Wheller was all class. It drifted onto his pads a bit, but he stayed beautifully balanced and pulverised it over the square-leg umpire for six. He hit Trent’s brother Travis for a maximum as well…so there’s no Christmas card coming from the Wheller family this year.
POSTER BOYS
DAVE: Okay boys, just imagine the DDCA has rang you both and asked you to design a poster to promote cricket in the association and be their marketing man. Who are you putting on the poster and why?
MARCUS: This was an interesting exercise; because during footy season we did something similar and we had a few ex-AFL players to promote the code that had a bit of cache. It sort of drummed home to me that the DDCA doesn’t really have that; there are a few ex-Sri Lankan cricketers, but there are no big-name domestic Australian cricketers within the ranks. Andrew Perrin has left Berwick; so maybe we are in need of an influx of star quality that people might know. Having said that, the players I want on the poster are all quality players, and I’m picking one from nearly each club. Jordy Hammond (Hallam Kalora Park) is arguably the competition’s best player; then Jeevan Mendis (Narre South), last year’s Wookey Medallist, he drags people through the gates, and Blade Baxter, we need a Springvale South head on the poster given they’re a good chance to win three flags in a row. Jake Hancock (Berwick) has played first-class cricket and is a terrific player to watch. Roshane Silva is another former Sri Lankan international, he’s at Buckley Ridges, and Jawid Khan is having an excellent season at North Dandenong. And Mark Cooper from Beaconsfield…
JONTY: Coops…
MARCUS: Correct Jonty, he’ll be doing quite well in the Wookey Medal voting this year.
DAVE: Bloody good player Coops.
MARCUS: And featured heavily in your CCCA run-scorers list a couple of weeks back. It’s interesting to see a player go from synthetic cricket to turf cricket and have real success. He coached a flag in Turf 2 last year and has Beaconsfield competitive in Turf 1.
DAVE: I’ve got a good story about Coops that sums him up I reckon. When he was at Kooweerup, he played for the WGCA in Country Week, and when the team arrived at the ground everyone looked a bit flat…it was pretty early in the morning. Then I heard this sound out the back of the changerooms, and it was Coops skipping rope to make sure his feet were moving quickly if the team had to bat first. It just gave an insight into his mentality. While everyone else was relaxing, he was doing that bit extra to get the edge.
MARCUS: I love that…
DAVE: It’s professionalism mate; and all of those extra little things certainly add up for Coops. What’s the old saying…”the harder I work the luckier I seem to get”..that sums up Mark Cooper. He is the epitome of that statement.
JONTY: How are his leggies going this season?
MARCUS: Pretty well; but there’s so much reliance on him in that side, with both bat and ball.
DAVE: He contains pretty well too.
MARCUS: Spot on, he bowled seven overs and took 1/30 on Saturday against a Buckley Ridges team that made 296 off 45 overs. He was a standout.
DAVE: Before we get your poster boys Jonty…what elite sportspeople do you have on your wall?
JONTY: I just had some Jack Ginnivan premiership paraphernalia delivered, but now he’s gone to Hawthorn; he was my favourite 2023 Magpie. I’ve got a photo of Isaac Quaynor, Darcy Cameron and Brayden Maynard on my wall at the moment, celebrating the premiership win.
DAVE: That will make Marcus happy mate; another Collingwood mention in LTS.
MARCUS: Standard, wouldn’t be LTS without it.
JONTY: Marcus makes a good point; Nuwan Kulasekara is my poster boy, being a former Sri Lankan international, and likewise Malinga Bandara, both from Dandy West. In terms of others, Lance Baptist has played a higher standard of cricket; and a shot of him launching into a beautiful drive would look pretty good on a poster, and Mackenzie Gardner from HSD would be another one to help promote cricket.
DAVE: Boys, I’m putting the CCCA Country Week team on my poster, because I think they’re on the precipice of something big. Phil Anning is the manager, and even though we’d need a milk crate for him to stand on; he has to go in, along with Kooweerup legend Matt Davey who is Chairman of Selectors. And then Chris Bright, Tom Hussey and Dale Tormey, the on-field leadership team, they’re doing a great job as well so I want their names up in lights. And Adam McMaster from Kooweerup; there’s a great photo of him being pumped up after taking a wicket recently. He’s big, strong and tattooed…he’d be a valuable marketing tool as well. But the Country Week team is doing it for me right now; I really do love what they’re doing.
UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE
DAVE: Okay boys, I want you to help out a local sporting captain or coach with a lovely gift under the Christmas tree. What are you giving, and to who, and why, to boost them up next year?
JONTY: Boost them up; well that is the perfect introduction to my gift. I’m giving Hampton Park coach Hayden Stanton some growth hormones, to boost the height and size of a Redbacks outfit that really is lacking in that area. They’re all 5’10, or touching on six foot…right across the board.
DAVE: Marcus?
MARCUS: I think Pakenham Football Club is going to be a good side next year, but they’re lacking that key forward that can be a bail-out option down the line. They scrambled a lot of goals from midfielders and smaller players this year, but having a focal point would make a big difference and push them into the top three. So I’m giving new coach Paul Carbis a key forward for Christmas. And Susantha Pradeep, the captain/coach at St Mary’s, who have been bowled out six times under 100 runs in their nine batting efforts this season. I’m putting a new batter who makes consistent runs under the tree. And Steven Kidd at Narre Warren…he needs a Neuralyzer.
DAVE: A neura what? (Jonty looks at Marcus strangely).
MARCUS: A neuralyzer; a device they used in Men In Black to wipe people’s memories. He needs to wipe the memories of the players that played in the grand final against Wandin this year. Everything was on track for a third premiership in a row, and then the second half was just a disaster.
DAVE: Where would you buy a neuralyzer?
MARCUS: I’d have to Google it. Why, do you want one?
DAVE: Yes, there are a few things I’d love to wipe from my memory. Anyway, I’m wrapping up either Luke McMaster (Kooweerup) or Russell Lehman (Tooradin) and putting them under the tree for Clyde captain Zac Davis. He just needs a reliable all-rounder who can bat and bowl top four and have a consistent impact. They’ve got decent players Clyde, but no-one is really firing apart from Trevor Bauer who made a century a few weeks back. And Lucas Ligt at Devon Meadows; he made his third century for the season on Saturday and I think the Panthers are just a strike bowler away from challenging the top-two.
MARCUS: Remember when Michael Clarke just made hundred after hundred a few years back…that’s the vibe I’m getting from Lucas Ligt right now.
DAVE: He’s killing it, and I can’t wait to see how he performs against Kooweerup and Tooradin in the New Year. He was on a pre-arranged weekend away when Devon played the top two over a double-header weekend earlier this season. They got smashed in both; but the biggest gun in town right now was missing. He has made the step up to Premier Division look easy.
(Jonty starts giggling)
DAVE: What’s up mate?
JONTY: I’ve just had this vision of you gift-wrapping Luke McMaster and putting him under the tree.
MARCUS: How would you go wrapping Phil Anning?
DAVE: I haven’t thought about it; but I did wrap a garden-gnome once…probably pretty similar to that!
THE GOAT
DAVE: Boys, it was a big week for GOATS on the weekend, with Damien Oliver riding winners with his three last-ever rides, and Nathan Lyon joining Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath as the only Australians to have taken 500 Test wickets. Where does Nathan Lyon rank for you?
JONTY: It’s hard to put anyone other than Warne and McGrath ahead of him, because of his durability, his ability to bowl well in Australia, and the pressure he was under coming out of the post-Warne era. The role he has played to allow Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to flourish as a trio can’t be underestimated either. He’s number three on the list for me. I did research on this one, and Alan Davidson – 1953 to 1963 – left-arm quick, took 186 wickets at an average of 20.53 and at an economy rate of 1.97. That’s a ridiculous record.
MARCUS: It’s hard to argue with Jonty’s points. There have been a few around the 300 wickets in recent years, but 500 wickets completely blows that out of the water. It’s great that he’s getting recognition for 500, because his 300th definitely flew under the radar. It was 25 March, 2018, and why that is significant is that it was day four of the ‘sandpaper’ test. Given the nature of what had just happened, no-one cared about wicket 300 at all.
DAVE: That is possibly the best research that anyone has ever done for LTS!
MARCUS: It wouldn’t be hard…you put two minutes in each week!
DAVE: That’s harsh, but true.
MARCUS: It’s hard to not have him in the top three or four. The longevity and consistency of 500 is pretty rare.
DAVE: I’m 55 now boys, and been watching cricket from a young age…so that’s almost half a century. I think Warne is the best I’ve seen, then Lillee, then McGrath and Lyon in equal third spot. Wherever he sits in the pecking order…he’s a great of Australian cricket. Great chat boys…we’ll talk next week for our Year In Review edition on 27 December.
