By Marcus Uhe
There were no match-winning hundreds in the Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf 1 grand final over the weekend despite a playing surface that appeared suited for having a stick.
Ryan Quirk won the toss and made the tactical choice to bowl, gifting the Bucks first crack at the best of the batting conditions in warm conditions, as their attack went to work with the new ball.
In a stacked batting card, the Bucks have been blessed with players stepping up here and there whenever the situation required someone throughout the campaign.
Be it Josh Holden’s hundred in round 12, Jake Cronin’s 97 and Roshane Silva’s 73 in the preliminary final, Michael Davies’ match-winning 49 against St Mary’s in round 10, such was the depth and spread of talent in the squad, the Bucks had contributors at every turn.
On Saturday, it Ben Wright’s turn, with his 55 as crucial as any hundred you could possibly ask for, recognised with the Fleming Medal as the player of the final.
“We’ve always been a club that, hasn’t relied on just one or two players,” Wright said.
“The addition of ‘Roshy’ (Silva) into our team helped us massively, because being honest, he has really stood out in terms of his batting, and he’s given the opportunity for a few of us to bat around him, and take a bit of pressure off us.
“But we’ve always been a team that, there’s been situations where everyone can say they’ve won a game this year.
“What we’ve struggled with in the last two years is bringing that to a grand final, which I felt like, today, we actually showed how good we are as a team.
“Everyone contributed with runs, everyone contributed with wickets and that’s probably what got us over the line today and yesterday.”
The manner in which he took the attack to Springvale South shifted the contest.
Jarryd Straker has been a thorn in everyone’s side in the Turf 1 in recent years with his ability to control the tempo of a contest, and finished well-clear of the next-highest wicket taker in Turf 1 cricket in 2023/24.
Honing-in around the wicket to left-handers, Straker varies his pace and his lengths to trap batters infront and leave them with no room to move when pinned on the crease.
His first over to Wright was a maiden, and the events of two weeks ago when he bowled unchanged for 23 overs, began to loom.
Wright, a right-hander, however, was not going to play his game.
On the second ball of his third over, he advanced down the wicket and put him into the sheltered area underneath the tennis club at Arch Brown Reserve.
Later in the over, Straker dropped short, and Wright cut him to the square boundary for four on the off side.
Wright revealed this was no accident, following the blueprint that worked so successfully for the Bucks back in round 12.
“I feel like when we played him at Springvale, the conditions have been in his favour, and I think we made a conscious effort when we played him at Park and played him today when maybe the conditions weren’t in his favour that we weren’t going to let him dictate,” Wright said.
“He’s obviously a real big cog in their bowling attack and if you let him bowl, it brings everyone else in their bowling attack into the game and (if) you can kind of try to take him out of the game a little bit, it brings bowlers back on early, doesn’t give them a chance to settle with the likes of Baxter and him bowling in-tandem for a long period of time.
“It was definitely a ploy of ours to take them on a little bit yesterday.
“What helped us as well was we got off to a pretty decent start and by the time we came on, we were probably slightly ahead in the game, so it gave us the opportunity to do that.”
Straker would have the last laugh in the one-on-one, trapping Wright attempting to sweep for 55 just before lunch.
Little did anyone know that that would be the highest individual score of the grand final.
Silva hit 24, Jayarathna 30 and Hobbs 34, while Jordan Wyatt made 30 and Ryan Quirk 36. For Wright, the innings and the result meant plenty, having brought into the club as much as anyone in his three seasons since moving from the UK.
“It was a big move for me and my family,” he said.
“I think one of the things that made it so easy for us is Buckley Ridges – it’s such a family-orientated club (with) such great people, supporters, players, families.
“Seeing the crowd today and the amount of Buckley people here today, it means a lot to a lot of people, not just the 11 that played.
“The amount of supporters we have that come and watch us every single week.
“Then ‘Hobba’ (Hobbs) and ‘Slicky’ (Davies) as well, the amount of times they’ve fallen short, I’m really really pleased for those guys that they’ve had the opportunity and they now know what it feels like to win a medal.”
