Our Under 16s - Home Grand Final at Ormond Park

We have a home Grand Final for our U16D team at Ormond Park this Saturday and Sunday, 8:20am start on both days, be there no later than 8am. The match is at our home ground by virtue of having finished the season higher on the ladder than our opponents, Maribyrnong Park-St Mary’s

The Reserve Day mentioned in the fixture is the following Saturday and can only be invoked if a whole day’s play is lost due to inclement weather.

The forecast indicates that this is unlikely, although there might be a few sprinkles during both mornings of the match. However, with a maximum temperature of 22 degrees on both days we should be a bit more comfortable than we have been.

And it’s all come about via a magnificent team effort over the course of a consistent season and thrilling semi-final that showed when players needed to dig deep and play their very best cricket to overcome obstacles, there was plenty there. Those critical wickets in the final few overs of Taylor’s Lakes determined innings on Sunday kept the target score manageable and outstanding batting against tight bowling did the rest.

We are expecting to have our full complement of 13 players available - so the detention room at PEGS might need an upgrade before next week.

The Team: 13 players means we need to manage fielding substitutions but there are no restrictions on the number of bowlers. However, two players will have to be rotated out of the batting line-up and we need to make sure we strike a balance between giving a fair go and putting the players into the kind of order that enables us to withstand the quality of opposition bowling we’re likely to encounter in a Grand Final. I’ll be conferring with co-coach Charlie Walker and co-captains Matthew Esmore and Alex Gorham as well as the playing group - to examine this further.

Support: We’ve had great support over the course of the season from numerous parents who have taken up tasks like scoring and umpiring at different times. You need to be aware that cricket teams can’t do the job on the field without dedicated back-up and the efforts of Christine James; Rod Gorham; Ian and Stephanie Wenlock; Ross Richardson; David Howes and Victoria Thorneycroft have made things a lot easier for players and coaches alike. The presence of parents and other family members at our games helps to brighten up the atmosphere and is very much appreciated.

Celebrating the Season:

After the match on Sunday, please stick around for a barbecue to celebrate a wonderful season. Let me know if you would like to help out with any of the setting up or running of the post-match gathering. Two heads are better than one, and many hands make light work!

REMINDERS:

Club caps – we need to look the part in this Grand Final – players should take the field in either a club cap or a white sun-hat - let me know if you need a club cap as there are plenty in stock @ $20;

See you on Saturday!

 Cheers

Kevin Gardiner. Junior Co-ordinator