Behind the stumps, The Standard cricket column l

Just seven points separate fourth-placed Woodford and Brierly-Christ Church in 10^th.

In between these two sits Port Fairy, Russells Creek White, Koroit, Merrivale and Allansford. 

Things could tighten up even more on Saturday with a number of the finals aspirants playing each other, with Allansford playing Russells Creek White and Port Fairy hosting Koroit.

Woodford has a big test when it takes on third-placed Nestles, while Merrivale plays Russells Creek Blue, which is second on the ladder.

At the top of the table after nine rounds is Wesley-CBC.

The Beavers are set to bed down top placing a little more when they host 11^th place Nirranda this week.

Wesley-CBC captain Mark Evans, a former division three cricketer of the year, said while his team had only lost one game, the competition was a lot tighter than that statistic suggests. 

“It is an extremely even competition at the moment, we have been lucky because we have been on the right side of some close games,” Evans said.

“Nestles beat us and we haven’t played Russells Creek Blue this year.

“Russells Creek and Nestles played off in the grand final last year and I think they are still the teams to beat.”

Evans is one of many players in division three who have played a lot of higher grade cricket earlier in their career.

Evans said the division three competition was an important level of local cricket.

“It’s a good little competition, there are plenty of decent players running around,” he said.

“It’s very enjoyable and because the games are all one-dayers, it does give people the chance to go away or do other things and if they miss one week it’s only one game.

“There is a lot of merit to that format for local cricket.

“It is also a good competition for the kids coming through.

“There have been games this year where we have had six or seven kids playing and that does help fast-track their development.

“We have some good kids at the club now and division three does plays its part.” 

The Australia Day weekend was another glorious occasion for Brierly-Christ Church, with the Bulls taking home the Sungold Cup Twenty20 competition. 

While we were going back through our archives at The Standard, we found the Australia Day weekend has been a happy hunting ground for the Bulls.

In January 1975, the Bulls were up against a formidable Dennington outfit that was among the top three premiership contenders at the time.

Going into the game, the Bulls were winless, but solid contributions across the board helped them pull off a major upset.

The Bulls batted first, making 9-214, with Ian Prout top scoring with 45. Ray Drew was the best of the Dennington bowlers with 3-38.

Carl Lang made 56 for Dennington in the run chase but it wasn’t enough, with the Dogs bowled out for 194. Colin McDonald took 2-39 while Prout chipped in with a wicket to complete a fine all-round game. 

Clinton Baker (Mortlake) 75, Jeff Rosolin (Heytesbury Rebels) 64, Kaplan McCann (Cobden) 44, Neil Kelly (Mortlake) 37, Pat Heffernan (Noorat) 37, Eddie Lucas (Bookaar) 34, Angus Uwland (Cobden) 44 and 3-37, Bayley Thompson (Heytesbury Rebels) 4-13, Lahiru Fernando (Pomborneit) 4-26, Tharaka Sendanayake (Pomborneit) 4-32, Todd Robertson (Mortlake) 3-18.

Murray Habel (Hawkesdale) 89, Michael Mahoney (Woolsthorpe) 90, Matthew Boyle (Mailors Flat) 80, Paul Huddart (Woolsthorpe) 56, Adam Chambers (Grassmere) 48, David West (Hawkesdale) 43, Chris Woodbridge (Mailors Flat) 43, Sam Mahony (Panmure) 6-63, Oscar Sanderson (5-55), Kevin Watts (Yambuk) 4-44, Austin Sinclair (Wangoom) 3-44. 

The Grassmere Cricket Association (GCA) is still basking in the glory of victory in the Bendigo Country Week division two competition last week.

GCA president Rhys Dews, who was a member of the winning squad, said the association was thrilled with the achievement.

“Leading into the week I thought we had a team that could be really competitive,” Dews said.

“But it was a huge effort to go through undefeated and to win the final.”

The GCA will get the chance to step up to division one next year should it chose to.

Dews said advancement was something he would like to see.

“We haven’t talked about it at committee level yet but I would be keen to go to division one,” he said.

“It would be a great chance to showcase the GCA and help raise our profile. 

“Things like this certainly help our clubs with recruiting players.”

Pomborneit’s Sri Lankan experiment is bearing fruit with match-winning contributions on Saturday. 

Tharaka Sendanayake and Lahiru Fernando took four wickets each in Pomborneit’s win over Terang.

The pair are in their debut season for the Bulls and have helped their team to top spot on the ladder after nine rounds. 

Pomborneit captain Grant Place said the duo had added something to the South West Cricket Association.

“For the last how ever many years, we have been playing against the same group of players,” Place said.

“So it’s good to have these guys in the competition.

“Hopefully some of the other clubs follow suit, it adds a bit to it.

“It took a bit to organise to get them here and we nearly put it in the too-hard basket but I’m glad we didn’t.

“They are wicket takers but they also don’t give away a lot of runs.”