By Marcus Uhe
Cast your mind back to round four of the Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf 1 season.
Beaconsfield, having rolled Hallam Kalora Park for just 111 in the first innings of a one-day contest, after thrashing Narre South in round two, looked set for a second victory at 1/43 midway through the innings, but fell in a heap, finishing all out for 103.
First-year Tigers coach Mick Cronin feared that the manner of surrender from a winning position would leave lasting scars, and his concerns have been repeatedly validated.
The Tigers have won just once more since, over North Dandenong in another white ball affair, back in early November.
Against Berwick in round six, which they lost by a wicket, and Dandenong West, who got them by 25 runs the following week, Beaconsfield failed to put together two solid innings of cricket, and walked away empty handed, despite obvious improvements.
In Cronin’s eyes, he feels they have forgotten how to win.
Saturday’s may have been the hardest to swallow for the Tigers, perishing from a position of power against the reigning premiers on their turf.
Chasing Buckley Ridges’ 319, Beaconsfield had Buckley Ridges on the ropes at 2/179.
It was finally clicking for the Tigers, and with Cronin’s intellectual property of his former home ground and club put into practice, there was a real sense of optimism at what the afternoon had in store.
They ran hard between the wickets, targeted Buckley’s weaker fielders and had the game in the palm of their hands, with set batters Ashan Madhushanka and Tyler Clark’s third-wicket partnership passing 150.
They would finish not lasting the full 80 overs, and 67 runs shy of the target, with a golden opportunity to tie for fifth place, shot to pieces.
“We lost one early but the boys settled and it was the best I’ve seen them bat all year,” Cronin said.
“A 150-run partnership set us on a good path and we were in full control of the game, right from ball one.
“They executed (the game plan) to the letter, which was fantastic.
“We still had seven or eight overs left when we were all out which was disappointing, but we had that batting collapse again, which has haunted us all year.
“5/19, 5/23, 4/20 and on the weekend, 3/8.
“It’s hurt us, big time.”
In his first Turf 1 contest for the summer, it was the returning and beloved premiership hero Michael Davies that made the crucial breakthrough for Buckley Ridges by removing Madhushanka for 69, ending a 159-run partnership between he and Clark.
Centurion Ben Wright held onto the chance offered by Madhushanka, which triggered the beginning of the end.
Ishan Jayarathna quickly took the next two wickets of Clark and Sasith Livera, as Beaconsfield lost 3/8, and slipped to 5/187.
Abaseen Taniwal and Zack Watson ensured the Bucks were forced to bowl 72 overs but the innings eventually came to a close with the Tigers reaching 252.
The recurring pattern is forcing Cronin to explore new avenues as he prepares for the next summer, desperate to shift the mentality of his playing group continuing to find their feet at Turf 1 level.
“When I got to the club it was about turning up; we turn up, survive and if we get a win, fantastic.
“That attitude has changed a little bit and it’s a stigma that’s stayed with the players as well.
“We’re trying to work with them mentally a little bit and next year we’re getting a mental coach to help with that.
“There’s only so much I can do – I can drive it but we’re looking outside the box to help these guys.
“There were games we should have won quite easily but we haven’t, but it’s the attitude of how to win, how to finish off, which we’re struggling with, big time.”
For all their ‘nearly’ results, what they really want – premiership points – continue to elude them.
If the Lions can’t turn the tables this week when they face the Hawks again, their losing stretch will span into a fourth month, and despite the “huge” improvement Cronin has stewarded, there’s no escaping the relegation battle they find themselves in.
Tied for 18 points with bottom-two sides North Dandenong and Narre South, it is hoped the slim losing margins will aide their cause, should percentage and net run rate become determining factors.
For Cronin, however the dreaded ‘R’ word is yet to enter his vocabulary.
“I believe we can win the next two or three games and every game I go into I believe we can win,” he said.
“If we can produce what we did on Saturday and be more consistent, I have no doubt in my mind that we can win.
“I’ve spoken to the boys about ‘if we had have won those three games, we’d be sitting third on the ladder at the moment’.
“The message is from us is, as coach, I’m backing you in, ‘Susa’ (Susantha Pradeep, captain) is backing you in, the president is backing you in’ and that’s all they hear, nothing else.”
The glittering summer of Buckley seamer Ishan Jayarathna continued, claiming his fourth five-wicket haul for the summer in another brilliant display.
Davies finished with 3/46 and Hussain Ali 2/46, as Bucks batter Jake Cronin claimed familial bragging rights over his father and Tigers coach, Mick.
