The Swan Hill and District Cricket Association A Grade competition will change formats this weekend, with the McDonald’s T20 competition back in play for the next three weekends in the lead-up to Christmas.
Clubs will play a double-header round on Saturday.
Round 3 will kick off proceedings, with the Stihl Shop Roodogs hosting the Phones R Us Blues, Tyrell Cricket Swans and Beverford Tavern Demons meeting at the Showgrounds, and WDEA Works Saints and Autopro Wandella clashing at the Ken Harrison Reserve from 1pm.
Following the completion of all games will be the rescheduled round 1 fixture, after it was washed out earlier this season, with matches to start from 4pm.
The Pizza Kitchen Tigers will play their first match of the afternoon against the Swans, while the Saints face off against the Blues and Wandella play the Demons at the Alan Garden Reserve to round out the afternoon’s play.
While there was sure to be action aplenty in the shortest format of the game, expected warm conditions present a big challenge – so too will be how players back up in the second match, in what is usually a very taxing and fast-paced form of cricket.
One team at an advantage will be the Tigers, who will be well rested when they take on the Swans.
Both teams will come into the match with strong form from the opening round of the T20 season – albeit over a month ago now – having each registered wins.
The Tigers, grand finalists last season, were impressive winners over the Roodogs, chasing down the required 96 runs for the loss of just three wickets.
The Swans produced the upset of the season so far, defeating the Blues to get their season off to the perfect start.
Also playing just one match for the afternoon is the Roodogs, while their sole opponent the Blues also front up against the all-conquering Saints in the late game.
The Saints have lost just one of their past 18 T20 matches, dating back to the 2019-20 season.
Not only do they possess some of the most damaging and hardest hitting batsmen in the league, including Corey Daniels, Bailey Codling and Jake Foster, but they also have a miserly bowling attack who give very little opportunity for their opposition to get the ball to the boundary without taking risks.
It’s something the Blues – and Wandella – will have to do if they want to topple the Saints, with the only way to put pressure on their batting line-up being to get a defendable score on the board.
Ryan Hinton has been in fantastic form for the Blues so far this season and will again hold the key to his team’s chances, along with skipper and fellow opener Ben Hallam.
The wildcard for the Blues however will be fellow veteran Stuart Patterson, with the hard-hitting middle order batsman capable of scoring quickly despite not finding form so far this season.
If they are to cause an upset, the Blues will need him to fire.
Wandella will also need more from their batting line-up if they are to challenge the Saints on Saturday, with Greg Dickson the only batsman to show any fight last Saturday in their narrow win over the Roodogs. Dickson can’t be expected to do it all again and will need support from his team mates – particularly Laine Gibbons, Bohden McKnight and Kaine O’Connell, who are all capable of swinging the bat.
The wildcard on Saturday could well be the Demons, who play the Swans and Wandella in must-win games following their loss to the Saints in the opening match of the competition.
The T20 format has traditionally not been a strength of the Demons, which is surprising considering they have some of two of the most explosive batsmen in Joel Walsh and Dean Harrop.
Another loss this early would likely to make it very difficult for them to reach the decider.
While they have plenty of quality options with the ball, including Ben Shadbolt, Drew Lloyd, Charlie Boulton and Walsh, they need to find a way to score quicker and not face out as many dot balls as they did against the Saints.
The Swans have also had issues in previous weeks with the run rate – albeit in the one-day format instead of T20 cricket.
Alan Hatcher, Cal Noonan and Andrew Clark are all capable of scoring quickly, but simply need to spend more time at the crease in order for the Swans to take advantage.
While T20 cricket is known to be a batsman’s game, it’s been the ball that has dominated the bat throughout the early rounds of the Kookaburra Cup season, with most teams appearing to have stronger bowling attacks than batting line-ups to date.
With many variables heading into Saturday’s matches – including some warm weather finally – it all augers well for very entertaining day’s action.
McDONALD’S T20 COMPETITION FIXTURE
ROUND 3 – Saturday, December 3, 1pm
Stihl Shop Roodogs v Phones R Us Blues at Alan Garden Reserve
Tyrell Cricket Swans v Beverford Tavern Demons at Swan Hill Rec. Reserve
WDEA Works Saints v Autopro Wandella at Ken Harrison Reserve
ROUND 1 – Saturday, December 3, 4pm
Tyrell Cricket Swans v Pizza Kitchen Tigers at Swan Hill Rec. Reserve
WDEA Works Saints v Phones R Us Blues at Ken Harrison Reserve
Autopro Wandella v Beverford Tavern Demons at Alan Garden Reserve
