HAND-picking a squad to tackle the state’s best country cricketers is not often an envied task.
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Australian selectors, although paid for their work, face a barrage of analysis on both the merits and faults of their work every time a Test match rolls around.
I reckon it’s plausible to argue, however, that in a town the size of Warrnambool, such a job comes with just as much scrutiny as it would on the international stage.
The Warrnambool and District Cricket Association’s Melbourne country week team is full of talent, there is no doubt about that.
But have selectors truly picked a squad with the right balance on hand? Or is it an indication of the improving depth in the WDCA?
Port Fairy’s Jason Perera is evidently one of the most glaring omissions from the squad – not just for his batting ability but for his bowling too.
The 23-year-old Sri Lankan has blasted nearly 400 runs from 10 innings’, including an unbeaten 113 against Nirranda in round 11.
He is averaging 49.5 with the bat and has another big score of 83 – in just his second innings on Australian soil – to his name.
He boasts the best batting average in the competition by a long way and is looming as an early favourite for the association best and fairest.
Almost unbelievably, however, Perera has snared 21 wickets with an average of 10.7. This includes two four-wicket hauls. And he has played three times less than the majority of the competition due to his late arrival.
Perera would also provide crucial international experience to the side and is well-accustomed and adaptable. It wouldn’t be amiss to suggest he would thrive on well-crafted pitches with professional curators, as miraculous as some of the turf pitches in Warrnambool can be with the input of hard-working volunteers.
There isn’t a player in Perera’s mould – an opening batsman who bowls crafty medium-fast – in the squad.
West Warrnambool’s Jack Mills is another who is unlucky to miss the squad, while captain-coach Alastair Templeton is perhaps just as unlucky.
Mills, an out-and-out spinner, has performed as well as any off-break bowler in the competition.
He has snared 20 wickets – primarily against aggressively-minded batsman trying to hit boundaries from slower deliveries – in Twenty20 and one-day cricket.
The selection of young gun Tyler Fowler was a masterstroke and likewise for Jimmy Elford. We’re all crossing our fingers for a good week on the track in Melbourne and hope the side can get over the line to bring it home.
