By Marcus Uhe
Buckley Ridges will host Narre South at Park Oval this weekend for the right to face Springvale South in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s (DDCA) Turf 1 grand final.
The contest pits a squad of senior, experienced DDCA cricketers in the Bucks against a team on the rise, confidence sky-high as one of the best-performed teams since the Christmas break, in Narre South.
The Lions have won five of their last six, but the only loss came against Buckley Ridges, and at Park Oval.
Buckley Ridges, meanwhile, will be eager to avenge last week’s thrashing.
Play will begin at 12.30pm.
Buckley Ridges
Why they can win it: Park Oval is such a fortress for the Bucks and they play the ground’s whacky dimensions expertly. Only Springvale South has beaten them there in the last two seasons, while the most recent loss in two-day cricket there was in March 2020. Despite last week’s effort being their worst performance of the year, it’s a risk to write-off such a quality outfit.
The challenge: Quick, Hussain Ali will be in a race against the clock to prove his fitness after rolling his ankle last week, meaning the Bucks may be forced to promote two seamers from the reserves, having selected two frontline spinners for the semi-final. James Anson and Faridullah Khil, who have both featured at times at Turf 1 level, appear the likely players to come in.
Narre South
Why they can win it: there’s no currency quite like belief, and Narre South have it in spades. Kyle Hardy hit a century in their last contest at Park Oval, while in Jeevan Mendis, they possess a cricketer who can turn games on their head at the drop of a hat. Finals cricket brings the best players to the fore, and he’s still one of the premier talents the DDCA has to offer.
The challenge: Round 14’s contest at Park was the first time that Narre’s leading bowlers in Callan Tout, Alex Cruickshank and Jeevan Mendis had bowled on the postage stamp, which takes some adjusting. Tout believes they’ll be better for the run, but says the margins are fine. “A metre full or a metre short, and it’s probably sailing into the creek,” he said. “We’ve just got to be switched on 100 per cent and when the 50-50 chance comes, we’ve got to take it, because you’re not going to get many chances, I don’t think.”
Tip: Narre South deserves all the credit for its fairy-tale run, but Buckley Ridges will be too strong.
