Behind the Stumps: WDCA locked and loaded for country week

The young Panther will get his first taste of country week cricket when the carnival begins on Monday in Melbourne against Portland and District, with Mortlake's Lachie Wareham coming out of the squad due to being unavailable.

At this stage, there are no other changes to the Cam Williams-led squad which will play in division two of the highly-regarded regional cricket tournament.

WDCA coach Jason Mungean said it was a terrific opportunity for Nyikos, who has made 156 runs and taken 13 division one wickets this season so far.

"It'll be his first country week so it's good for him to be able to play with the big dogs and learn about how it all goes," he said.

"We don't have any huge expectations on him, he's there just to play cricket and learn from those guys.

"He's the future of the competition down there and a future leader of the WDCA so we're looking forward to seeing how he goes."

Mortlake duo Todd Lamont and Lachie Wareham took out the Northern Raiders' Super Sunday Smash competition title at Purnim Recreation Reserve in front of a strong crowd of onlookers.

With some of the region's most prominent cricketers taking part in the concept, which revived an old cricket tradition of the double-wicket competition, the experienced pair defeated Zavier Mungean and Lachie Higginson in the grand final.

Stoneyford's Farooq Quereshi and Matt Love finished third and Allansford-Panmure father-son combination Ethan and Ben Boyd finished fourth.

Across the day, 16 teams of two competed in the knock competition which paid $2000 to the winning combination. Teams faced four overs and the duo both bowled and batted.

Organiser Glenn Mansbridge said the event went smoothly and was well received by the public and participants.

"It went better than what I thought it would, you obviously have teething problems and things to learn moving forward but for a first-up attempt after 30-odd years I thought it went really, really well," he said.

"As far as the players and their attitudes went, I think it (exceeded expectations). A lot of the internationals player have already asked me if they can come back and play again next year.

"We had one guy travel all the way from Mornington, a Pakistani guy from Colac so it was really well received by the imported players for sure."

Mansbridge said it helped further put Northern Raiders on the map.

"We had some great volunteers who helped out on the day and the response from the players on the wicket was really positive. Purnim Reserve has done an amazing job," he said.

The Warrnambool and District Cricket Association women's finals kick off this weekend with plenty of anticipation across the region and venues have been ticked off for the crunch clashes.

Uebergang Oval in Allansford will host the semi-final between Allansford-Panmure and Hawkesdale, while Nestles and Brierly-Christ Church will do battle for the remaining grand final spot at Reid Oval in Warrnambool.

Nestles is expected to enter the finals as heavy favourites to clinch the crown after going through the home-and-away season undefeated with eight wins.

The grand final on February 19 from 2.30pm will also be played at Reid Oval.

There was some promising performances across the Victorian Premier Cricket competition over the weekend from several south-west products, with Port Fairy's Maddie Green leading the way for Geelong with a classy half-century.

The talented batter crunched 53 - her first half-century of the season - for the Cats in the women's seconds, alongside Warrnambool's Steph Townsend who also made 60 at the top-of-the-order. Dunkeld's Jess Field led the way with ball in hand, snaring 2-13. The Cats won their clash against Carlton and are currently sitting second on the table.