Sport
13 December, 2024
Cricket moves to two-day format in time for Christmas, with key clash between top four rivals
The first round of red-ball cricket delivers a Christmas cracker as Laanecoorie Dunolly hosts Beaufort at True Blue Floors Oval.
With Laane the undisputed champions at the moment, and Beaufort looking to continue to progress into becoming the main challenger, there’s plenty on the line on the first of two days this Saturday.
For both teams, there are no shortage of options with both bat and ball — both teams currently boast players in each of the top four from a batting and a bowling perspective.
It’s Laane, however, who continues to dominate with the bat, and they have the top three batsmen in the league at the moment by some distance.
Alex Cook, Kamaljot Romana and Tom Hannett are the only batsmen in the competition who boast more than 200 runs so far this season, and loom as a dangerous prospect for the Beaufort bowlers.
Romana, for his part, is coming off a best-on-ground performance in Sunday’s one-day grand final, scoring a majestic 114 to take his average to a competition-high 68.8.
Cook has cooled slightly in recent weeks after a hot start, but is still capable of tearing apart games, while Hannett has continued to be consistent opening the batting, and comes into this contest having scored 86 in the two clubs’ last meeting.
Similarly, fellow opener Tom Hart has also had a good experience against Beaufort this season, scoring 63 runs, his best score of the season.
For their part, Beaufort are the only other team who has at least four batsmen who have scored over 110 runs this season.
Reigning Ken Gibbs Medallist Lachlan Oddie is the leader, scoring 197, while opener Tom Alexander is currently in good form, having scored 42 for the Crows in their tight loss to Colts Phelans last week.
Kriss Ellis (127 runs) and Tom Grant (116) have also been constants with the bat so far this season, and will be called upon again over the next two weeks.
It’s with the ball where both teams are currently dominating, with Laane and the Crows boasting six of the best seven bowlers from a statistical standpoint.
Cook remains the best bowler in the competition so far, taking 15 wickets at an average of 6.4, but Alexander has closed the gap in recent weeks, having now taken 12 wickets at 12.1.
Both these teams can lay claim to having premier strike opening bowlers as well.
Zach Graham’s hot weekend, which saw him take six wickets for Laane, including a match-winning five-wicket haul against Clunes, saw him vault to third on the bowling list with nine at an average of 11.9, while teammate Joe Lovel is one wicket behind with eight at 13.9.
Beaufort’s strike trio of Alexander, Oddie (seven wickets, 17.7) and Jayden Scotland (seven, 27.6) have also been on the mark throughout the season.
The last meeting between the two teams saw Laane take a 107-run victory in round four, with Hannett and Hart’s opening combination a big factor, while seven Laane players took wickets as they restricted Beaufort to 114 chasing 221.