IRYMPLE captain Mark Thomson says his side has switched back to last season’s one-day mindset ahead of today’s clash with Mildura West at John Hall Oval.
Following last week’s washout of the opening day of Round 7, all First Division action has reverted back to 40 overs per side.
The Swallows only got an early taste with the ball against Mildura East in their abandoned opening contest of the season, but managed 151 for their first innings back.
Thomson (36) and Bryson Lush (32) top scored, while Chase Stone grabbed two early wickets at Henshilwood Oval.
The captain said he was impressed with the small snippet he saw of his bowling attack, but said the batting will need some improvement.
“I was pretty happy with the small start we made to our bowling and fielding,” Thomson said. “We didn’t get that chance to do more with it but that’s definitely been our biggest strength over the past few years.
“Our batting left some room for improvement but the change of format back to the two-day games means we’ll probably have to slightly change the way we approach our innings.
“We still want everyone to play their natural game, and we’ll obviously need to change back to that one-day mentality for this week.
“You could tell at training that it was a one-day game coming up because balls were flying out of the nets everywhere. Hopefully that’s a good sign.”
Thomson admitted it has been a frustrating start to the season, which had been delayed by COVID restriction before rain has played a part each weekend since.
“Obviously COVID has been pretty involved across the past two seasons so now with the rain it’s been pretty annoying,” he said.
Thomson said bowling has been the strength of his side in recent seasons, with at least six options available for lengthy spells, with more who can add extra variety.
“We do have five or six bowling options that can put in a good shift of overs, and that covers pace, medium, swing and spin bowling, so we’ve got plenty of options,” he said.
“With ‘Cogs’ (Dan Coghlan) not playing regularly this year, having spin options like Bryson (Lush), Jordy (Payne) and Dave (Filippi) is really important. Spin can be such an important thing during the longer formats of the game, not just for wickets but to get through the overs as well.”
West were one of two teams to be on the right side of a result last round, with a strong bowling performance that saw them hold Coomealla Wentworth to 105.
Coach Davison Mbindi expressed his delight with debutant Harry O’Brien who took 4/15.
Another good all-round performance from veteran Chris Williams (4/35 and 36) shows the Englishman is set for another solid season, while there is more to come from recruit Sean Hawking with the bat.
Play begins at John Hall Oval on Saturday at 1pm.
