ONE of the Grassmere Cricket Association's greatest teams will use its fourth-straight premiership to springboard into life as a Warrnambool and District Cricket Association outfit.
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Hawkesdale cemented its status as a bona fide powerhouse on Saturday, knocking off Yambuk in the association's final grand final.
The Grassmere Cricket Association in November voted to pull up stumps at the end of its current season and several clubs have been busy working to secure their futures.
Hawkesdale has retained its identity and will look to carry premiership momentum into its maiden season in the WDCA.
"We're excited," Cats skipper Lachie Glare said.
"We don't quite know what to expect but we'll figure that out along the way.
"We've got a pretty good club so we're excited to get in there. Most of us went to school together and we've still got plenty of cricket left in us."
Glare was the undisputed man of the match - claiming four vital wickets - and battling through a broken toe.
He bowled off a reduced run-up but dismissed key batsmen including Joe Forrest, Brian Wilson, Tyson Umbers and Timothy Ackerley.
Glare said his side's ability to defend its total set up the triumph.
"We just had tight bowling and fielding," he said.
"We didn't set a big total but we knew what we had to do.
"We've defended pretty well over the past few years so we knew we'd be able to get it done with tight bowling and fielding."
Hawkesdale posted a total of 114 on the back of Murray Habel's 30-run stand. The veteran's 40-run partnership with Daniel Roache helped the Cats overcome a dangerous 2-14 scoreline early in the match.
Wilson claimed five wickets to help dismiss the Cats in just the 38th over but it wasn't enough to lift Yambuk to victory.
The Buks started strongly with the bat and looked to be cruising until opener Hamish Gleeson was stumped courtesy of slick hands from wicketkeeper Josh Purcell.
They could only manage 82 from 34 overs in their pursuit of the total.
Glare said Hawkesdale was proud to salute in the Grassmere Cricket Association's final stand after a storied 75-year history.
"It's a great honour, taking out the last one in the competition is pretty special," he said.
"We still probably don't know what we've done yet, winning four in a row, but it's great."
The Grassmere Cricket Association's 75-year history celebration will be held at Wangoom Recreation Reserve next Saturday. Free bookings can be made via its Facebook page.
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Nick Ansell
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
