Sport
30 November, 2023
Bird battle to go down at Princes
Maryborough and Clunes will look to maintain their one-day chances of success when the two meet at Princes Park tomorrow. The winner could have an opportunity to play for a spot in the grand final in two weeks’ time, depending on Beaufort’s...
Maryborough and Clunes will look to maintain their one-day chances of success when the two meet at Princes Park tomorrow.
The winner could have an opportunity to play for a spot in the grand final in two weeks’ time, depending on Beaufort’s result against Laanecoorie Dunolly.
The Owls will be hoping to return to the winners’ list after going down to Carisbrook by six wickets.
Runs haven’t been a problem for the Owls so far during the one-day campaign — in fact, their tally of 614 runs comfortably leads the competition.
However, their inability to take wickets has hampered them throughout the season — as of round eight, they have still be unable to take all 10 wickets when fielding.
Despite that, there are still plenty of positives.
A Tom Hart return on Saturday would be very handy for the Owls, having made 115 in his last start three weeks ago, while Mitch McClure has also got his eye in, scoring 176 runs for the season.
Ben Hoban scored 50 runs two weeks ago to be one of three Owls to score 130 runs for the season — only Laane and Beaufort are the other two teams to achieve that feat.
From a bowling perspective, Jasper Trickey has continued to excel, adding another wicket two weeks ago to make it nine for the season.
Jackson Goodwin has been a good strike bowler, and leads the Owls’ one-day campaign with four wickets.
They’ll need to be on to ensure they can take enough wickets to slow down Clunes, with many capable batsmen in their lineup.
While the Magpies had a bye, followed by a wash-out last week, a few keen players kept their eye in, with Jude McGuire making 87 in their A reserve win two weeks ago against Carisbrook, while Lachlan Morganti finished on 51.
How the Magpies will look with their bowling unit will be of great intrigue.
From both one-day games hosted on the Princes Park pitch, an average of 212 runs has been scored across A grade and A reserve per innings.
But two weeks ago on the ground, it appeared spin was the way to take wickets with five of Brook’s seven wickets coming from that avenue.
That might open the door for a return for Muhammad Shehzad, who was in great form in A reserve, scoring 45 with the bat and taking 5/17 with the ball in their last outing.
However, fast bowling has been Clunes’ modus operandi this season, with Ash Gunn (nine wickets), Noah Davies (seven), Jaxon Smyth (seven) and Brett Coon (six) all leading the way for the Magpies.
It was that avenue which led Clunes to bowling the Owls out in their last meeting in round six, with Smyth and Coon taking three wickets apiece, while Gunn took two wickets in a three-over spell which included two maidens.
That helped Clunes restrict Maryborough to just 77 runs, while Brendan Ingram’s 22 and Josh Dunn’s 18 helped Clunes reach their target with 25 balls to spare.