Rain brings cricket drought

By Keith Thompson, YVCA Secretary
THE much-needed and welcome rain in the Yarra Valley area may be well needed and appreciated by most if not all, but it did cause the cancellation of all YVCA Cricket on Saturday because of the effect of the amount of rain on the venues.
So next Saturday 24 October will see a round of one-day matches with the senior games starting at 1pm.
In the DJ Strachan Shield grade Coldstream hosts Healesville and this should prove to be a close affair with the Coldstream club having recruited well in the off and pre-season, with players such as Rice, Dobson, Evans and Doughty in the mix.
Healesville with much home-grown talent to select will be pleased with the form to date of Daniel Rogers and the senior Edwards.
Hoddles Creek will travel to Gruyere and this match could go either way depending on who stands up for their side. Tilney, Violi and Waixel for the home team and perhaps one of the Derix brother or Batten or Crew for the visitors will have the extra effort to give their team the edge.
Who will win the match between Warburton Millgrove and Mt Evelyn at Warburton is a tipster’s nightmare. Andrew Giblin has hit early form for Mt Evelyn while the Darwall brothers are playing well for the Burras.
Silvan travels to Seville and following some outspokeness in recent times will need to stand up and be counted to justify those actions. It is well possible, as the Seville team is running hot and cold and star player Andrew Kay is out with a long-term injury.
Yarra Junction will host Woori Yallock on what may be a tough venue with some untimely works. The Lever brothers will head the Eagles assisted by Flutter and Fall while for the Tigers Sharp, Diggins and King have started the season well and will again be the key to many games.
Wandin have the bye, which has been redefined by the board in regards to no one-day bye rounds being played as was planned. There is still some talk of ways to remove it not only from the DJSS but from the RAFT. Unlikely but still being considered.