Robinvale-Euston have set their sights on going all the way, believing that little separates all four A Grade sides in this season’s Red Cliffs Cricket Association finals.
This Saturday’s elimination final with Tempy will be Robinvale-Euston’s first taste of finals action in 16 years, following the club’s return to the Red Cliffs Cricket Association (RCCA) A Grade.
The final, at Len Arnott Oval, will be a welcome fixture for Robinvale-Euston, who will feel confident after a 21-run win over second-placed Nursery Ridge last week.
The Rangers captain Travis Shawcross said his team believed it could go the distance after registering the same number of wins as first-placed Ouyen Rams.
“There’s not much separating the top three sides as far as wins and losses go,” Shawcross said.
“And then even Tempy, who finished fourth, probably underperformed during the season, but they’re still a really good side.”
Tempy, who were beaten grand finalists in the 2020-21 RCCA season, locked in their finals spot after defeating Millewa in a do-or-die final round fixture.
But the Tempy Tigers are the only top-four side to have a negative net run rate and will need batsmen Ben Mole and Tate Hulland to lead the way with the bat.
Robinvale-Euston and Tempy have faced each other three times, resulting in two wins for the Rangers and one for the Tigers.
However, Shawcross said it was difficult to place much emphasis on two of the three clashes, saying player unavailability had affected the results.
But he said the Rangers had taken heart from the round 7 win over Tempy, when six bowlers took wickets to restrict Tempy to 86.
“It was a pretty tight battle where we got few runs and managed to bowl them out, which was good.”
Robinvale-Euston scored the fewest runs among the three sides tied on 10 wins, and Shawcross said the team had to turn around their “disappointing” regular season batting or face elimination.
“As far as batting is concerned, we’re pretty disappointed with what we’ve done,” he said.
“We seem to bowl a little better than we bat, so if can get both things right, we’ll be hard to beat.
“But if Tempy gets on top of us with the ball and we don’t bat well, it’s going to make life difficult.”
