Above: Casey-South Melbourne opening bowler Rod Bird sends one down against Frankston Peninsula on Saturday. Bird was up against it though as he had only 48 runs to defend after a dismal batting performance.
By David Nagel
CASEY-SOUTH MELBOURNE had a mixed bag of results on the weekend as a double-header of one-day fixtures was played in Victorian Premier Cricket.
On Saturday the Swans played host to Frankston Peninsula and the result was – let’s put this politely – embarrassing. Batting first Casey-South Melbourne were bowled out for 48 inside 29 overs with Clive Rose the only Swans’ batsman to reach double figures with 11. Frankston Peninsula bowler, Matthew Chasemore returned the outstanding figures of 6/12 off 9.2 overs.
An early wicket gave the Swannies hope but the target was way too small and Frankston Peninsula reached the target five wickets down, finishing on 5/52. Ash Perera was the pick of the bowlers with 3/10 off six overs.
Looking at the scorecard it would be easy to assume that the Casey Fields pitch was a minefield for batsmen, but Swans’ coach Mark Ridgway pushed those suggestions aside.
“It was bad batting,” Ridgway said.
“The conditions have chan-ged this season and our blokes need to adjust, last season the pitch was low and slow but now it’s got pace and bounce so techniques are being tested.
“The curator’s been having kittens this week thinking he produced a shocker but that’s not the case at all, it’s just different.”
Ridgway made no excuses for Saturday’s performance but said the team’s average age of 20.5 meant there would be some inconsistencies at some stages of the season. The rebuilding would take time.
Saturday’s game was forgotten about quickly as Casey-South Melbourne journeyed to Bill Lawry Oval on Sunday to face Northcote.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat first but it was the Swans’ new-ball pairing of Jayde Herrick and Rod Bird who made the early running. Herrick has the ball firing out at the moment and made life uncomfortable for the Northcote batsmen on numerous occasions.
Herrick returned figures of 2/22 from his nine overs while Bird chimed in with 2/25 off eight. Ash Perera is bowling beautifully at the moment and his spell on Sunday was devastating for Northcote. Perera returned figures of 4/22 from eight overs as the Casey-South Melbourne bowlers dismissed Northcote for 133 in 40.2 overs.
Ridgway says he’s never seen Perera bowl better.
“I thought he bowled better on Saturday, if we had have made 70 or 80 instead of 48 against Frankston Peninsula I reckon we would have been a huge chance, he’s bowling the best I’ve ever seen him I reckon,” he said.
The Swans’ batting line-up then had a chance to make amends for Saturday’s disaster and they started in cautious fashion. Captain Jake Best steadied the top order with 22 before Roshan Livera and Herrick made a run-a-ball 48 and 32 respectively. The Swans’ finished on 5/139 in just 27.2 overs to record a much-needed victory.
“It was a clinical victory”, Ridgway said.
This Saturday Casey-South Melbourne play host to Melbourne University and Ridgway expects a tough encounter.
“We’re in their category along with about seven or eight teams so it’s an important game,” he said.
“Brett Harrop bowls well for them so our batting line-up needs to stand up, we’ve had a couple of blokes make tons in the seconds so the pressure could be on some of these blokes if they fail.”
This Saturday’s game starts at 11am at Casey Fields.
