A CLASH of two of the best performed imports for the season headline a Sunraysia Cricket Association semi-final featuring last season’s grand final combatants.
Gun all-rounders Scott Steel of Irymple and Liam Naylor from Mildura East will play leading roles in the team’s semi-final encounter at Henshilwood Oval for a place in next week’s grand final.
The head-to-head however will be about more than the Englishman and the Scotsman as two of the most consistent squads will fight for the right to return to the big dance.
The Swallows are choc full of all-round talent headed by skipper Mark Thomson and coach Bryson Lush, while pace bowler Bailey Anderson has 27 wickets for the season, and Riley Payne has put together arguably his best campaign with the bat.
At East, fellow import Josh Andrews has also been superb with the bat alongside captain Brad Thomas and coach Josh Berry, while vice-captain Nick Dorman has been in superb touch with the ball taking 32 scalps.
Thomson said returning towards a full-strength line-up in recent weeks has helped settle the side ahead of finals.
“I’m not sure how many numbers we’ve been through but especially across the top two grades we’ve had a lot of changes across the season,” he said.
“It feels like we’ve now got a much more settled line-up in recent weeks, which gives us a real boost as the majority of us have been in a similar position before, whether it’s a semi-final or a grand final.”
Thomson said East opening pair Naylor, who has 858 runs for the season including 260 in the final round against Merbein, and Andrews, who has 437 runs, will be the key wickets.
“Their openers obviously hold a real key and have probably been in the best form of their players, so there will be a fair bit of emphasis on trying to get them out as early as possible,” he said.
“We’ve rarely had the same opening bowling combination across the season so it’s still up in the air who gets the new ball at this stage.
“Someone like Bailey Anderson is just a really reliable guy, you can chuck him the ball and he’ll give you eight to 10 overs or more more with no complaints.”
Mildura East coach Josh Berry said his team isn’t feeling the pressure.
“Finals are obviously always tough, I don’t think I’ve ever played in an easy one,” he said.
“Both sides have some really great players so I think it will come down to who makes the most of their chances, taking catches, affecting run outs, and the like.
“I don’t feel like there’s any pressure on us. We’re more just excited to have the opportunity to make another grand final.
“Last year, our depth just probably wasn’t quite there but we fell like we’ve developed from within in the last 12 months, along with having high quality imports like Liam and Josh, and that’s really helped push us forward.”
Irymple face Mildura East at Henshilwood Oval from 1pm on Saturday and Sunday.
