By Tyler Lewis
Turf 1 powerhouses Springvale South and Buckley Ridges fired off warning shots in Saturday’s season opener.
The reigning premiers sent Narre South in and – courtesy of 5/17 from Yoshan Kumara – skittled the Lions for just 82.
Newly appointed skipper Ryan Quirk was confident in his decision at the toss, but was surprised with how the wicket played out.
“With the weather lately I think every curator was going to have to do unbelievably well to get a good wicket,” he said.
“The Narre South wicket probably wasn’t as bad as we had in mind; it was a bit slow as I am sure it would’ve been around the league.
“We thought if there was going to be anything in it, it was going to be early, we hoped by the time we batted it would dry out a little bit and by the time we batted I think it got better.”
Kumara was on a hat-trick at one stage, after collecting Harsha de Silva and Jawed Hussaini in successive deliveries.
The bustling right-armer has started the summer in sizzling touch, but there are more early wickets to come according to his captain.
“One thing about him is that he doesn’t miss his length, you can pretty guarantee what he is going to bowl and that’s an annoying length and really tough to score off,” he said.
“He certainly does enough with it to create opportunities as well, since he went and came back six or so years ago, I think he is a lot more mature and he’s honestly just a class act.
“From a captaincy point of view, I know exactly what I am going to get out of him every ball, he’s every captains dream… that’s for sure.
“There’s no doubt that he will be taking wickets for us up front all year.”
Blade Baxter chimed in with 2/17 from his 10, while Jordan Mackenzie (2/16 off seven) also proved difficult to get away.
The Bloods then gallivanted to victory, with openers Mitch Forsyth (28 not out) and Quirk (46 not out) completing a 10-wicket victory.
“Mine and Mitch’s mindset was to just kill the game early,” Quirk explained.
“If a team is defending 80 and you’re 0/30, I think naturally things drop; if a team gets one or two early wickets, then be 1/10, 2/10, they get up and about very quickly.
“We just wanted to kill it early, it was under two per over, so we wanted to just be 0/40 or 0/50.
“The more time Mitch and I bat, the easier it is for Jordy (Wyatt) and Sharpy (Andrew Sharp) to come in and that.”
Buckley Ridges, meanwhile, too made light work of its opponent North Dandenong.
In a display similar to the Bloods, the Bucks sent the Maroons in and rattled through them at the cost of just 83 runs.
It could’ve been far worse for the visitors if it wasn’t for a knock of 38 from skipper Clayton McCartney, who came to the crease at with his side at 4/27 and soon saw them slip to 9/54.
Hussain Ali was the tormenter with the ball, snaring 4/7 from his five overs.
“He’s a young lad, I see a lot of potential there,” Bucks coach Manjula Munasinghe said of Ali.
“I think he will be very good for our team, his work ethic is so good – it is good for our kids to look at what he is doing and improve their game.”
In reply, the Bucks met the total before drinks at the loss of just three wickets, with Ben Wright carving out an unbeaten 40.
Daniel Watson was the next best in his return game, working away 21 alongside Wright at the top.
The prospect of those two at the top excites Munasinghe.
“He’s (Wright) one of the best batters going around, you know, he’s a very calm head,” he said.
“I hope he continues his form in all the matches to come, it’s also great to see the legend – DJ Watson – is back.
“I think that is going to be a very interesting pair throughout the season.”
The next three weeks pose a challenge for the Bucks, with hopeful contenders Berwick, Narre South and Springvale South to come.
“It’s a challenge, I am looking forward to it – this is why we play, to challenge our players,” he said.
“It’s a test for us mainly, rather than other teams, to get that test early and prepare for the stronger teams for the big one.”
Hallam Kalora Park and reigning Wookey Medallist Jordan Hammond wasted no time in making an impact.
The star all-rounder resumed his post at the top with a ship-steadying 54 not out for his side.
The Hawks held Berwick to 7/142 in the first innings, before completing the victory in the 43rd over with six wickets in hand.
After being 3/42, then 4/81, Hammond crunched 54 not out from just 68 deliveries.
While Hawks coach Matt Cox enjoyed his front row seat to Hammond’s performance, he did jokingly admit that he’d love to see more of it on Tuesday and Thursday’s as well.
“He’s genuinely at the top of his game,” he said.
“It’s hard to explain, he’s a no fuss sort of player, Jordy, nothing fazes him – I was batting with him at the end and he was doing what he wanted.
“He was walking at (Andrew) Perrin… he’s a different class… if he actually trained, he would be even better.
“The way he goes through the motions frustrates me, he was bowling off three steps at training on Thursday night.
“He’s way too good to be playing in this comp, I see that much ability in him, but that’s just the way he is, he’s got so much personality and just such a laid back guy.”
No Hawk took multiple wickets in the first innings; instead the Bears had three of its top four dismissed through being run out.
The performance in the field impressed Cox, who revealed fielding had been a focused area of improvement in the pre-season.
“We have done a massive pre-season on fielding, it was probably an area in which we were lacking last year,” he explained.
“We had three run outs, I don’t think we had a misfield or a drop catch for the whole innings, it was just fantastic.”
120 from St Mary’s number five Raveen Nanayakkara wasn’t enough to secure the Saints victory, with competition newcomers Parkmore Pirates clinching its first victory of the season.
Nanayakkara strolled to the crease at a grim time for the Saints, who had just lost three early wickets.
His big knock was unparalleled by any of his teammates with number nine Troy Cashman recording the next best with 28.
222 from the Saints appeared to be a par score as the Pirates needed their full 45 overs to claim victory.
Dulan Waduge was the lynchpin of the Pirates’ chase, scoring 61.
If the first round is not going to be made up, the competition-wide draw is complimentary to the Pirates.
Parkmore was set to meet Buckley Ridges, while North Dandenong was set to roll the welcome out for St Mary’s.
With the two lower sides sharing the points and the Pirates securing victory over the Saints, it has the prospect of going a long way for the side out of Wachter Reserve.
