By Chris Anderson
WITH early morning rain, cricketers around the Yarra Valley dreaded the thought of another missed day of cricket. Fortunately, the clouds cleared for a full day of cricket action in the Yarra Valley Cricket Association.
The race for finals is certainly heating up and a few sides staked their claims in the first week of Round 10 action in DJ Strachan Shield.
Coldstream v Woori Yallock
AFTER resting their heels last round, Coldstream entered their encounter against Woori Yallock keen to continue their recent good form.
Woori Yallock, on the other hand, rued a missed opportunity last round and with their finals chances slipping, made the most of the action on day one.
Batting first, the Crocs went from chocolates (453 runs in their last encounter) to boiled lollies as they were dismissed for a disappointing 119.
The Tigers’ opening bowler, Simon Young, has certainly staked his claim as the association’s best player with great figures of 6/48, and he was again ably supported by spinner Ben Hayes (3/37) as they combined to roll the Crocs.
Coldstream bounced back well later in the day to have Woori Yallock teetering at 4/31 to leave the game in the balance.
Silvan v Yarra Junction
YARRA Junction continued their solid form in their clash against Silvan.
Batting first, the Eagles compiled a decent score of 243 to put the pressure back on the Slugs going into week two.
Eagles young gun Trav Nightingale (79) is starting to show the talent that netted him the last two Keith Thompson medals (Most Outstanding Junior Cricketer) as he combined with David Lever (59) to lay the foundations of the visitor’s score. Silvan’s bowling was led by spinner Trevor Fischer (3/25) and captain Shane Walliker (3/60).
On the small Silvan ground, the total is definitely chaseable, but much rests on the shoulders of inform Slugs opener Clint Sharman if the home side are to secure their second victory of the season.
Healesville v Seville
AFTER upsetting Mount Evelyn last round, Healesville would’ve been keen to finish an indifferent season on a good note.
The Bloods faced a Seville side warming themselves for finals action, and it was a Seville bowling line up the bought their ‘A’ game to the contest.
For the second time in recent weeks, the association’s best opening bowling combination of Matt Tilney (6/42) and Ishara Amarasinghe (3/27) destroyed an opposition batting line up as they blew past an insipid Healesville for 70.
The Blues would be disappointed with their return of 6/117, but with first innings points already secured, they are poised for outright points.
Mount Evelyn v Hoddles Creek
IN A game that mirrored the Seville/Healesville clash, Mount Evelyn bounced back from a disappointing month at the expense of a Hoddles Creek side whose finals chances have all but disappeared.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Wombats were instantly put on the back foot by Rover’s opening bowler Chris Anderson (4/13) and were never able to recover as speedster Brad Jones (4/20) found his radar and polished off the visitors for 83.
Like Seville, the Rovers would be disappointed with their return of 6/151, but with captain Kane Jones (81n.o.) securing first innings points, the Rovers are poised to chance their arm at outright points.
