DAVE: Good morning boys; what an unbelievable weekend of sport we’ve just witnessed, with a double century, an eight-wicket haul and Mother Nature playing a role in several games with wet weather after scorching our souls recently. Marcus, it’s also a sad day for the sports team, with this your last Let’s Talk Sport before you leave Star News Group in search of a new challenge. We’ll speak more on that later; first off Marcus, give us your best action from the weekend?
MARCUS: The action was pretty sparse in the DDCA, there wasn’t a lot going on, but I did see the best cover drive I have ever seen in person.
DAVE: That’s a big call!
MARCUS: Yes, a big call, but this shot deserves it. Triyan De Silva from HSD was bowling his left-arm seamers to Cranbourne captain-coach Harrison Carlyon. He was batting a little bit out of his crease, head out, nose over the ball, and the ball has rocketed to the fence. It genuinely went so quick; by the time the fielder had got to jogging pace it had already hit the fence. I’ve never seen anything like it: especially on a wet surface…it just slid across the ground. I’d love to see that Fox Cricket graphic where they show the ball coming in at a certain speed, and how quick it comes out off the bat; this shot would have blown that contraption to pieces.
DAVE: Marcus Stoinis is always a good one for that graphic with his impressive bat speed. So how did Cranny go anyway?
MARCUS: Badly, and I may have cursed them – this is shaping up to be their third loss in a row since I said on Casey Radio that they were my premiership tip – but Carlyon gets my best action for that stinging cover drive.
DAVE: Justin, what tickled your fancy from the weekend?
JUSTIN: A quick shout-out to the Casey Cannons for the turn out on Saturday despite the pretty treacherous weather. They had lots of intra-club matches and junior hockey players training with seniors, which was really good to see. But my best action goes to Ash Smith from Officer, who played two late cuts that caught my eye. The first one went between gully and slips for four, and then he repeated the shot next ball; almost same result but it just fell short of the boundary. I was impressed with his patience and timing, and he went on to get a big hundred.
DAVE: Boys, Chris Smith from Pakenham made 229 not out on Saturday; his third double century in his last 15 innings in Premier Division, and hit 34 fours and five sixes.
MARCUS: How many…34?
DAVE: Yep, 34; he hit 40 singles and almost matched that in fours and sixes. His stroke-play is incredible, to all parts of the ground, which will be explained on another page in this week’s paper…I’ve done his wagon wheel!
MARCUS: That’s 136 runs in fours!
DAVE: Yes…plus 30 more in sixes; 166 in total.
MARCUS: (Laughs) That’s incredible!
DAVE: Sure is; and his best shot wasn’t a six. I’ve watched every ball of his innings, and the cover drive he hit on the rise, to get him from 114 to 118, made my mouth water. There were so many great shots in his innings, but that cover drive was a beautiful shot from roughly knee-roll height. Not many can do that, so it takes away my best action.
THE GOAT
DAVE: Boys, the talk about Chris Smith got me somehow thinking about GOATs, and I want to know what you would call a goat if you found one in your backyard…and tell me why! Before you do; do you have room for a goat in your backyard?
MARCUS: I’ve got a chicken coop with no chickens, but yes I do have room for a goat.
JUSTIN: Plenty of room!
DAVE: Good, name your goat and tell me why?
JUSTIN: I know where your GOAT analogy is going Dave, the Greatest Of All Time, but I’m keeping it in house at the Star News Group. I’m calling my goat Stewart or Stuart; the spelling is up for debate, but we’ll sort that out later. We have two Stewie’s here at work, Stuart Langley, who does everything around the office and our photographer Stewart Chambers, who was working at Star News Group before I was even born. I’ve picked those two because I’m still only new here, still meeting people, and those two have made a real impression on me. Stewie (Chambers) puts in a power of work taking photos and we probably don’t use as many as we should, and the other Stu is also a life member at Pakenham Upper/Toomuc and has gone out of his way to show me around the club and introduce me to people.
DAVE: I’m not sure of the exact number, but Stewie Chambers is on his second camera now because his most recent one took over 1.5 million photos. You know what, I may have undersold him…it could even be a lot more than that! He is the GOAT of photographers; hopefully Rob Carew and Gary Sissons are not reading this week’s edition of Let’s Talk Sport! Marcus, what are you calling your goat…with reference to greatest of all time?
MARCUS: I’ve got two options if I had to name a goat; the first one is Joker, after Nikola Jokic, who plays for my favourite team (Denver Nuggets) and is my all-time favourite athlete. He’s won three of the last four NBA, MVP’s, and the year he didn’t win it, he came second and won Finals MVP. And he’s in the mix to win a fourth this year, and here’s a snapshot as to why. He’s third for points per game, fourth for rebounds, second for assists, he’s got the fourth best three-point percentage, he’s fourth for steals per game and he’s shooting 61-percent on two-points shots. It’s just extraordinary what he’s doing; basketball just looks so simple for him and he makes his teammates better. The difference when he is on the court and off the court is extraordinary…and I don’t know if I will watch basketball when he retires; that’s how much of a game changer he is and how mesmerising he’s been in the last five years of my life. The Joker is my first suggestion for the name of my goat, and the second nomination is…
DAVE: What, you’ve got two goats now?
MARCUS: Potentially. The second nomination is Dean Gibbs from the Snipers in the South West Gippsland Dart League.
DAVE: Stick to the point mate; are you calling it Deano or Gibbo?
MARCUS: I like Gibbo!
DAVE: Gibbo the Goat!
MARCUS: He finished second for total tons last year, neck and neck with Steve from Predators, and when the competition kicked off last week for season 2025, what does Gibbs do? Throws 10 tons.
DAVE: That’s incredible; I can’t recall anyone throwing 10 tons in one night.
MARCUS: It would only be Dean or Steve that have done it. So ‘Gibbo’ is the second option to name my goat.
DAVE: Boys, I’m going to keep this simple; the name of my goat is Smudge, the nickname for Chris Smith who we’ve mentioned earlier. Smudge is a great name for a goat I reckon, and Chris Smith deserves the honour. I won’t go fully into his stats in LTS, but there’s plenty in this week’s paper that will give you a guide to how good this bloke really is. People might argue the point, but he’s the best batter to have played in the WGCA/CCCA in the last 20 years in my humble opinion. That’s not a controversial comment by any means; a lot will agree, but there have been some brilliant players who have strutted their stuff over the last two decades. Smudge is my goat…and if I had a second one it would be called Train; after legendary Cranbourne full-forward Marc Holt. I’d love Smudge and Train keeping the grass tidy in my backyard.
IF I PLAY WELL…WE WIN
DAVE: Boys, we’ll keep the Chris Smith theme going for another segment; and I’ll tell you why. There are so many match-winners in the CCCA finals this year. Tooradin has Cal O’Hare, Josh Lownds, Mick Sweeney, Russ Lehman; Tom Hussey made a ton on the weekend. Kooweerup has Chris Bright, Luke McMaster, Shiran Rathnayake and Jess Mathers to name a few, while Cardinia has Mark Cooper, Alex Nooy, Matt Welsh and several good bowlers who could all win them a premiership. But if Chris Smith plays his best over two weekends, his record would suggest that if he does that then Pakenham will win the premiership. He is the best cricketer in the competition…so his best is better than anyone else’s. Is there someone in your competitions that is better than everyone else if he plays his best?
MARCUS: I’ve taken this down a slightly different route Dave, and looked at who the key performers are for each team; with numbers to back it up. Springvale South is up first and opening batter Mitch Forsyth. The Bloods have had three losses this season and Forsyth has made 0, 13 and 34, so when he goes big, Springvale South wins, and when he fails, they don’t. Lee Brown is similar, the Hallam Kalora Park spinner, who has overcome injuries, has not taken a wicket in the Hawks three losses this season. When he’s taking wickets Hallam Kalora Park is in the game. In Turf 2 we’ve got Harsaroup Singh at Cranbourne; he’s had an up and down season and in four of Cranbourne’s five losses he has not reached double figures…so he’s a real lynchpin for them in the middle order. And at Keysborough, we’ve got Chanaka Kahandawala. Keysborough has only lost two games this year; in the first loss he didn’t play and in the second game he only made 14, and he’s the leading run-scorer in Turf 3. If these guys fire their teams are going to be in a really good spot during finals.
DAVE: Fantastic Marcus; Justin, over to you mate.
JUSTIN: I’ve gone Chathura Imbulagoda from Officer; he averages 60 with the bat and has played lots of good innings this summer – 150, 101 and 97 – but he needs to fire in finals because against the top four he doesn’t have a good record. He made his 97 against Cranbourne Meadows, but that game got washed out, and he made two against them last time. Against PUT, he has innings of 11 and five, and against Carlisle Park he has made 26 and 37. Officer’s bowling is the best in CCCA District, although PUT might not agree, and if Imbulagoda can back up his bowlers then Officer look a big chance.
MARCUS FAREWELL
DAVE: Marcus, when the Gazette comes out on Wednesday it will be your last day on the job; tell our readers where you’re off to mate?
MARCUS: Yes Dave, the end of an era for me; I’m leaving the Gazette and taking up a communications role with Fire Rescue Victoria. I’ve loved my time at Star News; starting out doing news in Cranbourne and then switching across to sport when the great Tyler Lewis moved on about 24 months ago. Professional sport is what we’ve all got an interest in; but local sport is where the real sport is for me. The atmosphere, the people, the camaraderie; I’m going to miss it a lot there’s no sugar-coating it. I’ll miss the half time and three-quarter-time speeches, like the games between Narre Warren and Wandin over the last few years; and just the atmosphere at local footy that cricket can’t compete with because of the crowds. It’s really something special, the local footy scene.
DAVE: I’m going to put you on the spot here mate; which local sports star has captured your attention the most?
MARCUS: That’s tough, but it has to be Jordy Wyatt from Springvale South. He’s an extraordinary talent, won the Wookey Medal last year, and I’ll determine my Saturday’s around when I can watch him bat. He’s dynamic, he’s entertaining, and brings a real fear to the crease for opposition bowlers. When Buckley Ridges got him out in last year’s grand final; they knew that was the game. If I had to pick anyone out it would have to be Jordy.
DAVE: Well mate, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with you over the last couple of years, you’ve always had my back and always come up trumps when deadline pressure is really on. We’re going to miss you but wish you all the best for the future.
MARCUS: Thanks Dave…this is Marcus Uhe signing off!
