By David Nagel
The Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) will move quickly into planning mode for Melbourne Country Week 2026 after a hugely successful tournament from February 10 to 14.
After earning promotion from Division 2 last year, the CCCA made the semi-finals of the elite level Provincial Division, with wins over Leongatha and Country Week powerhouse Bendigo propelling the association into the top four.
The CCCA was defeated by reigning champion Geelong in Wednesday’s dead-rubber at Fitzroy-Doncaster, before putting up a brave showing against eventual champion Ferntree Gully in Thursday’s semi-final at Croydon Park.
Despite the finals loss, Country Week Team Manager Phil Anning was full of praise for a team that had nine new inclusions from last year.
Anning said the enthusiasm of the playing group and support staff made the entire tournament a satisfying and enjoyable experience.
“I thought the entire playing group was superb, especially the leadership of Cal O’Hare who made sure the players got the mix right between playing some really good cricket and building a strong bond off the field,” Anning said.
“The players were fantastic with their professionalism and the way they prepared themselves and it was a great credit to all the players that put their hands up to play this year.
“It’s quite a phenomenal achievement to rise a division, have nine new players, and still match it with some of the best country cricketers in Victoria.
“I couldn’t be prouder of how the players performed and stuck to their guns across four days of very intense cricket.
“We will all learn a lot from this experience; especially the newcomers and we’ll bounce back bigger and better next year.
“There’s already excitement building behind the scenes for next year’s campaign which I’m looking forward to being a part of.”
Anning and the leadership group will meet at the conclusion on the 2024/25 season to fine tune the Country week experience for next season.
Here’s a recap of the CCCA’s early wins.
CRUSADERS WIN COUNTRY WEEK OPENER
Casey Cardinia (7/268) made a winning start to its Country Week campaign after surviving a last-ball thriller against Leongatha (8/264) at Shepley Oval.
Country Week stalwart Jason Williams (10 not out) deposited Leongatha spinner Mitchell Clark over mid-wicket for four – off the last ball of the match – to break a 264-run deadlock.
The Crusaders started brilliantly in pursuit of Leongatha’s competitive total, with Kooweerup star Chris Bright (73) and Devon Meadows skipper Lucas Ligt (63) putting on a 126-run opening partnership.
Bright struck nine boundaries and three sixes during his innings, and simultaneously brought up his own personal milestone and the 100-run total for his team with a straight drive for four in over 16.
Ligt, the reigning Glasscock Medallist, then shared a partnership with skipper Cal O’Hare (23), before Shiran Rathnayake (67) joined Ligt for a steadying stand.
Rathnayake took the reins upon Ligt’s dismissal and timed his innings beautifully until a late bout of cramp hindered his running between the wickets.
The Crusaders always looked to be slightly ahead of the required run-rate, but things got tense as Leongatha tightened the screws.
Clark bowled a brilliant last over for Leongatha, with a single to Ben Parrott (1 not out) locking away the scores with just one ball left in the match.
With the field brought in to stop the winning single, Williams showed his class with a sweetly-timed clip for four to give the Crusaders a well-deserved victory.
The Kooweerup-connection of Bright and Rathnayake were magnificent for Casey Cardinia, while Ligt’s contribution should not be underestimated at the top.
Earlier in the day, Tyler Evans (3/50) and Ankush Rana (2/12) took multiple wickets to help restrict Leongatha to a gettable score.
CASEY CARDINIA REMAINS UNDEFEATED
Casey Cardinia made it two from two at Country Week after a great bowling effort to restrict Bendigo to 158 all out on day two at Balwyn North.
The bowling unit was fantastic for the Camels, with a 44-run opening stand the highest partnership of the Bendigo innings.
The Camels took all 10 wickets between overs 10 and 41, with off-spinners Yohan Arumadura (3/23 off 10) and Jason Williams (2/33 off 10) doing the majority of the grunt work while Tyler Evans claimed 3/24 of 5.3 overs.
The 20-year-old Tooradin all-rounder must be wondering what all the fuss is about Country Week after taking three wickets on debut in Monday’s win over Leongatha.
Earlier in the day, a magnificent century from opener Lucas Ligt (105 not out) propelled Casey Cardinia (5/244) to what would prove to be a winning score.
The Devon Meadows captain backed up his rock-solid 63 from day-one against Leongatha with an innings full of concentration and class, crunching eight fours and one towering six from his 142 balls at the crease.
The reigning Glasscock Medallist saw off five partners during his innings and chalked up his second Country Week ton after making an epic 142 not out against Kingston-Hawthorn last year.
The Camels lost opener Chris Bright (3) early and battled to 1/29 off the first block of 10 against a quality bowling line up.
Casey Cardinia suffered two big blows in the 16th over of the innings when Trevor Bauer (19) and skipper Cal O’Hare (0) were dismissed in the space of two balls.
Kooweerup star Shiran Rathnayake (65) then strode to the crease and saw off the hat-trick ball before showcasing his exquisite talents.
Rathnayake, who made 67 on day one, clipped a run-a-ball half-century and shared a 113-run stand with Ligt to resurrect the Camels’ chances.
Casey Cardinia was 3/64 after 20, but boosted that to 3/115 from the next block of 10.
The Camels then increased the tempo even further, reaching 4/180 off 40 overs.
Charl Van Den Heever (19) and day-one hero Jason Williams (15 not out) played important late-over innings…but it was Ligt who stole the show by bringing up his century with eight balls remaining in the innings.
The left-hander finished off the 50 overs in style, cracking Taylor Beard (2/46) to the boundary rope with ball 300.
DAY 3
Casey Cardinia (171) posted a modest total against Geelong at Fitzroy-Doncaster on Wednesday.
The CCCA lost early wickets before skipper Cal O’Hare (26) and Charl Van Den Heever (67) rescued the innings with a solid partnership.
Van Den Heever brought up his fifty with a massive six over long on, which also took the CCCA to triple figures. Tooradin keeper Ben Parrott (18) made some lower runs to keep CCCA in the hunt.
Geelong cruised to victory with no CCCA bowlers claiming multiple wickets.
DAY 4
A brilliant century from Ferntree Gully (4/299) skipper Nathan Walsh (122 not out) thwarted Casey Cardinia’s (246) attempt to qualify for Friday’s final at The Albert.
Walsh and Josh Priestly (78) took the game away from the CCCA after Luke McMaster (2/24) had threatened to make some in roads.
O’Hare (62), Van Den Heever (50), McMaster (40) and Williams (27) made a solid fist of the reply, but three wickets each to Daniel O’Shea (3/52) and Darcy Whitten (3/60) saw Ferntree Gully through to Friday’s final against Sale Maffra.
Footnote: The CCCA was also been well supported by a dedicated team of off-field helpers, with Phil Anning (Team Manager), Matt Davey (Chairman of Selectors), Neil Chaplin (Bus Driver), Dwayne Lester (Scorer) and Les Jones (Hydration Officer) all doing a wonderful job as volunteers.
The CCCA has also been well-supported financially; with major sponsor Barry Plant joined by the Tooradin Sports Club and Scott Pitcher Electrical as key supporters of this year’s campaign.
