Sport
25 January, 2024
Battle for top four heating up
Red ball cricket returns to the Horsham Cricket Association when round ten gets underway on Saturday.
There are three matches remaining until finals with all being two-day games and battles are heating up in the race for the top four with Bullants, Tigers and Saints all in contention for the positions behind top teams Homers and West Wimmera Warriors.
Being the Australia Day weekend most teams will struggle to put their best team on the field and that is where other teams can capitalise.
The match of the round is between West Wimmera v Tigers at Davis Park. Sitting fourth on the ladder the Tigers are a very potent team when on. The Warriors are going to be close to full strength.
Tigers captain Tyler Puls said the next three games is all about cementing themselves in the top four and trying to win a few matches.
"It's hard to tell on player availability, but hopefully we can win a couple of matches and set ourselves up for the finals," he said.
Lubeck Murtoa host Laharum at Murtoa Recreation Reserve.
With both teams unable to play finals the match will be more about development and improvement. Both teams have moved up to A-Grade this season and both have had success and with young teams show they belong up in the top grade.
The Mudlarks will be missing Nic Ballagh, Tom Barrand, Shannon Reddie and Dylan Eats and with C-Grade on top of the ladder won't be looking to impact their team at the selection table, so will be looking elsewhere to fill a competitive team.
Blackheath Dimboola host the Homers at Dimboola Recreation Reserve. Last time these two met at this ground was earlier in the season when Logan Miller and Patrick Mills put on the famous 184 run partnership and twin centuries.
Bulls captain Sam Leith said they won't be at full strength again and says the focus will remain the same - to give everyone a go.
"We are trying to give everyone a decent shot and everyone will get an opportunity," he said.
"Hopefully this time around we can hold our catches. Last time we played them we dropped about 12 catches and the fielding was poor and we were punished.
"They are a really good outfit and we are looking forward to it. It will be a fun game."
In the final match the Bullants face the Saints at the Horsham City Oval.
Bullants are currently sitting third on the ladder with four wins and the Saints are fifth on three wins.
Last week the Bullants showed they were getting back to their best but depending on availability, Saints captain Gary Davidson said they are in with a chance.
"We have a tough draw and it is going to be a challenge. Hopefully we have a good side in and can give ourselves a chance at a win," he said.
Bullants will still be missing some key players but are starting to get other key players back and captain Matt Combe said they will start to ramp things up.
"Now it is the business end of the season we are ramping the training a bit more," he said.
"We want to cement our top three spot and go from there. We know we will get players back and our experience will be vital."
C GRADE CRICKET RESUMES
C-Grade cricket returns Saturday in the Horsham Cricket Association with Natimuk and Homers facing off in the match of the round at Natimuk Recreation Reserve.
Natimuk are sitting second on the ladder behind Lubeck Murtoa and boast a well-rounded team.
Clinton Garwood leads their runscoring with 148 runs at an average of 74 and with Jeremy Schmidt 129, Tyler Coutts 119, Adam Trevean 110 and Cameron Callum 107 all scoring triple figures this season you can see why their batting is their strength.
Jeremy Schmidt is also leading the way with the ball with eight wickets at an average of 8.63 alongside Ben Garwood whom is averaging 13.63.
Homers Tim Hofmaier has scored 120 runs at 60, with Lewis Hofmaier next best on 97. Lewis also has nine scalps for the year at 12.78, two ahead of youngster Jazz Hopper.
Lubeck Murtoa face seventh placed Tigers at Dimboola Road Oval. The Mudlarks don't have a weakness in their lineup and boast the league leading wicket-taker in Jason Frost with 23 wickets at an incredible average of 4.57.
Their batting has been consistent. Cameron Newell leads the way with 158 runs at 52.67 and Phillip Yew 98, Darren Schultz 93 and Albie Kingston 82 all solid.
Damon Brennan has 170 runs at 34 for the Tigers with Martyn Knight also scoring 127. Archie Knight is the second leading wicket-taker this season with 14 at 10.43 so they are not without a chance despite what the ladder says.
Sixth placed Horsham Saints face off against third placed Colts at Coughlin Park. Sitting on two wins for the year they will look to test themselves against one of the premiership fancies.
Kingsley Dalgleish is their leading runscorer with 93 at 31 whilst Muhammad Hassaan Masood is the third leading wicket-taker with 13 at 6.62.
Colts batting lineup is superior with Jay Couch 179 at 35.8 leading the way for them. Drew Carmody 170, Darren Stephens 155 and Austin Simpson 112 have all scored triple figures so they will be hard to crack. Carmody also has 11 wickets for the season at an average of nine.
In the other match, Laharum play Blackheath Dimboola at Cameron Oval. Laharum are currently fifth on the table with three wins. They are sitting three wins behind Homers so face an uphill battle to make the top four.
Cricket, however, is a funny game and when you boast the league leading run scorer of Brodie Foster with 229 runs at 57.25 and also feature Chase Whelan 163, Daniel Mibus 144 and Josh Hutchinson 137, you are never out of the hunt.
The bowling is shared around with Matthew Whelan leading the way on eight wickets at 21.13 with Ashley Marra 7 and Jude Borlase and Josh Hutchinson both on six.
Logan Krelle is doing well for Blackheath Dimboola scoring 125 runs at 15.63 with Nathan Schorback 110 and Judd Spokes 102 also in the triple figures. Their bowling is led by Daniel Collins with six at 8.67, but he has been playing A-Grade recently.
The Schorback sisters in Lilly and Isobelle both have three wickets for the season and lead their attack.