Sport
3 December, 2024
Bartlett thrilled with team’s application
Maryborough District Cricket Association (MDCA) captain Sam Bartlett was thrilled with the Sharp Shield victory over Grenville on Sunday, believing it will give the league a good platform for Country Week.
The MDCA’s seven-wicket victory allowed Bartlett plenty of options to try from a bowling perspective, particularly given the league batted first in four of their five matches across representative cricket in 2024.
But with a very strong squad in tow for representative cricket for the 2025 season, Bartlett is bullish about the MDCA’s chances of success in Country Week after their win on Sunday.
“Now that we’re back playing against Grenville in the honour of playing for the Terry Sharp Shield, you struggle to find a better cricket person or person in general,” he said.
“It’s pretty special given what he’s done for cricket everywhere he goes, he is well respected.
“I’m thrilled. It was a good toss to win while the wicket was doing a little bit with our quicks, getting them into the game, and we bowled well up front, especially Max (Jackson) and Jayden Scotland was good too.”
Bartlett had a clear plan to his bowlers, who he said executed all his strategies to perfection.
“I said at the start that I wanted them to bowl line and length, towards the top of off and the fourth stump, and credit to the bowlers, all the mediums bowled right there. It made it easy to set fields,” he said.
Their pressure meant that Grenville were reduced to 5/45 at drinks, showing that their best bowling is a threat to any country team across the state.
Bartlett says there are good problems to have across the board.
“When we hit Melbourne, we’ll have plenty of bowling options. We have five or six spinners in the group already, six or seven mediums and some quick bowlers. It’s a good problem to have, plenty of bowlers and plenty of batsmen,” he said.
“The benefit of the team is that this is one of our stronger sides for several years — we have blokes who can bat down to nine, 10 or 11, bowlers galore, so there’s plenty of strengths there.”
Bartlett’s efforts on Sunday yielded 25 runs as he played his part in an 81-run partnership with Beaufort’s Tom Alexander to get the job done, with Bartlett showering Alexander with praise.
“We lost a couple of quick wickets together and they (Grenville) had their tail up a little bit,” he said.
“It was good to get out there with Tom, just settled down for a couple of overs, and then Tom played really well, played his shots, hit to his areas and stuck to his strengths.”
The opportunity to bowl first was a crucial chance for the MDCA to experience chasing down a target.
Only in their opening round-robin game against a powerful Ballarat team were the MDCA afforded a chance to chase down a target, with the MDCA settling for setting targets against Sunraysia, Kingston Hawthorn and South West.
Bartlett believes that’s the key to success in Melbourne, where next year’s Country Week will begin on the week of February 10.
“Last year was good to get a feel for it again, knowing what the teams would be like and the grounds and pitches too,” he said.
“They tend to be a bit wetter and damper earlier on, particularly when you play day after day, so it’ll be good to get down there. Bowling first might suit on a lot of wickets, and we’ll back our strength in with our batters.
“Towards the back end of the week, a couple of us were perhaps tired, but I think we’ll have a stronger group, to take 13 or 14.”