By Chris Anderson
CRICKET in the Yarra Valley resumed on Saturday under humid conditions. In DJ Strachan Shield action, the battle for finals positions has certainly heated up, as the evenness of the competition came through with many close results.
The most significant of the last week’s results was the victory of Coldstream over the reigning premiers Seville by two runs.
In what most regarded as an extremely tough run of games against three of last year’s finalists, the Crocs have emerged from the stretch with two victories, most significantly over last year’s grand final teams in Warburton-Millgrove and Seville.
Coldstream batted first and battled against the tidy bowling of Ishara Amarasinghe (3/15), Scott Troyhan (2/26) and the rest of the experienced Seville line up to post an average score of 7/126.
With the wide expanses of the Coldstream ground, Seville had to battle equally as hard to chase down the runs and had plenty of contributors with the bat, however they continually lost wickets at inopportune times and found themselves two runs short at the fall of the last wicket.
@BT Sport Sub Mail:Warburton-Millgrove v Healesville
Warburton-Millgrove entered Round 7 keen to atone for its dismal effort with the bat last time around in its clash against Healesville.
The Bloods batted first and against a formidable Burras attack never got into any rhythm and were bowled out for a disappointing 123.
Cam Darwall continued his good early form with his tidy left arm tweakers with figures of 5/18 and was ably supported by Damien Egan with 3/21.
The Burras looked like they were cruising to victory as the openers, led by Scott Darwall (52), advanced the score to 90 without the fall of a wicket.
Just as they looked comfortable, the Bloods turned the game on its head with an inspired stretch of bowling that netted six wickets in quick succession to put the wind up a nervous Warburton batting line up.
Thankfully for the fans, the home side was able to steady and pass the target without the fall of any more wickets.
@BT Sport Sub Mail:Hoddles Creek v Yarra Junction
Hoddles Creek finished the first half of the season inside the top four and would’ve been keen to establish this position against the lowly Yarra Junction side.
Hoddles Creek opened the game with the bat and posted a solid 9/137 on the back of good batting from Martin Vidakovic (51) and Brenton Derix (32).
The Eagles attack kept things in check on the back of David Lever’s 3/26. Junction had to bat well if they were to chase down the total, and that they did.
David Lever again announced himself as one of the best players in the league as his brilliant 74 led the Eagles to a score of 9/163 and a much needed victory.
With the evenness of the competition, the Eagles find themselves in a position that a good string of results could see them push for finals action.
Mount Evelyn v Silvan
In the final DJ Strachan Shield game, it was a case of the undefeated ladder leaders in Mount Evelyn taking on the winless Silvan.
If there was some hope of a shock result, they were all but snuffed out by the home team’s imposing total of 6/248 to open the game.
Luke Jones was brilliant in a well compiled 114 not out, and he was ably supported in his innings by the rest of the batting line up.
With the imposing total to chase, and a ground that was painfully slow, the Slugs were going to find it difficult to muster up the score. This was the case as disciplined Rovers bowlers dismissed the visitors for a paltry 65.
@BT Sport Sub Mail:Representative Cricket
Although junior cricket in the Yarra Valley doesn’t resume until 28 January, the region’s best young cricketing talent have been putting their skills on show in the 2012 Victorian Metropolitan Cricket Union (VMCU) Representative Cricket Competitions.
Four rounds were completed last week, whilst this week sees the final round followed by finals matches.
The standout team for the Yarra Valley has been the Under 14 side who have managed to get through the first week of competition undefeated.
Their week was capped off on Friday with victory over the previously undefeated Federal District Cricket Association. The boys will head into the second week of the competition primed for more glory.
The Under 12 and Under 16 teams have battled bravely in their respective competitions, but they have found the competition quite tough and haven’t been able to manage a victory over their three games. Both sides will be entering Monday’s matches keen to put a win on the board before the finals come around.
For people interested in the results, or checking out some of Yarra Valley’s finest up and coming cricketers, go to vmcu.cricketvictoria.com.au and head to the My Cricket details on the right of the screen. Under 16s fixtures and results can be found under ‘Keith Mackay Shield’, Under 14s at ‘Des Nolan Cup’ and the Under 12s at ‘Josh Browne Plate’.
