WHILE his team sits on top of the table as Sunraysia Cricket returns from the festive season, Irymple coach Bryson Lush believes there is still room for improvement.
The reigning premiers have a 5-3 record leading into the final six matches of the campaign, but bonus points earned mean they still sit ahead of Gol Gol and Nichols Point who are 6-2.
Mildura East are second and have the same record as the Swallows, including a crucial eight-run win over them before Christmas as a tight battle for finals hosting rights looms.
While further back in the pecking order, Coomealla Wentworth and Mildura West are also hovering near the top four, making for an exciting run to end of the season.
Irymple will look to get one back on East at Henshilwood Oval on Saturday in the first of three one-day games in a row.
“It’s obviously a great spot to be in at this stage, the outright win over Merbein was massive with those bonus points,” Lush said.
“It is a bit funny as I don’t think we’ve been at our best so far. Mark (Thomson) and Scotty (Steel) have been huge with the stick and the bowling group led by Bailey (Anderson) has been solid, but we’ve been a bit more inconsistent than we’d like.
“You can’t really complain though when you’re on top of the ladder.
“These bonus points are so important, the outright victories seem to be less and less in recent years, so any extra points you can earn will be massive considering how tight it is.
“There’s less than seven points between the top four and Coomy, and West aren’t that far away either so it’s going to be an interesting final six rounds.
“Given how close it is if we can get a top two finish again and get a home final it would be huge for us.
“We have East this week, we still face Gol Gol twice and Nichols Point as well so it will be a test for us, but hopefully will have us primed for finals.”
East claimed the win in the grand final rematch against Irymple at Mildura Sporting Precinct in the last game before Christmas, led by a century from captain Brad Thomas.
Steel’s unbeaten 140 wasn’t quite enough to help his side over the line.
“We somehow always manage to have a close game with these guys,” Lush said.
“It was a belter of a game, unfortunately for us Scott, who was unbelievable, just ran out of partners, but credit to the East bowlers who stuck to their plans.
“We’re hoping we can bounce back from that, especially on our home deck.
“Scott has just been a class above which is what we were hoping for when he came back, and Mark just keeps doing what he does, which is playing consistently well.”
Anderson has been the leader of the bowling unit, sitting second in the competition for wickets with 20.
“Bailey has been awesome again, he’s only 21 but he’s already got about five years of division one cricket under his belt,” Lush said.
“He’s becoming a bit of a heart and soul player for us and has really helped fill that bit of a void with Billy doing his knee.”
The contest begins at 1pm at Henshilwood Oval.
