A SECOND successive wash-out has secured the Sunraysia Cricket Association (SCA) a spot in Friday’s Division 3 Melbourne Country Week grand final against Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association.
The SCA had been scheduled to play Hamilton District Cricket Association at Coburg on Thursday in the semi-finals but play was abandoned because of the weather.
Rain also forced the SCA’s third-round match against Bellarine Peninsula to be called off with the SCA struggling at 7/148 off 38.1 overs.
Veteran Mildura Settlers all-rounder Richie Wyld is confident Friday’s grand final will go ahead despite forecast rain.
“Fingers crossed we can get on and play,” Wyld said.
“We’ve had a couple of wet days, but things are looking up.”
Bellarine Peninsula finished on top of Division 3 after the preliminary rounds, but Wyld believes conditions will play into his side’s favour.
“They are a hard-wicket comp, so with the rain we’ve had it might make things a bit tricky,” said Wyld.
“I’d expect the wicket will probably be a touch green so it could be interesting, but we are pretty confident we can get the job done.”
The SCA will go into Friday’s match without star upper-order batsman Paddy Keogh, who has had to fly back to Adelaide.
Keogh’s unavailability paves the way for Wyld to come into the side.
Wyld is one of the SCA’s most decorated and experienced players and he is hoping he can fill the void left by big-hitting Keogh, who scored 80 in the SCA’s opening-round match.
“It’s a straight swap, Paddy for me,” Wyld said.
“I would have played (Thursday) – I got to the ground ready to go, but obviously it rained and we didn’t get on,” Wyld said.
Despite only playing one match, Wyld said it was great to be back playing at Melbourne Country Week.
“It’s just a lot of fun and you get to meet a lot of different people,” he said.
“Locally you play against the same blokes all the time and it is great to get the opportunity to play against different players.
“We’ve had a lot of fun and I think all the boys have really enjoyed it.”
Friday’s match is scheduled to start 10am at Chirnside Park Oval.
