By Jonty Ralphsmith
Upper Beaconsfield has started its first season in the top flight of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) on a strong note, defeating Merinda Park by 66 runs on Saturday.
The victory follows a competitive showing against 2023-24 grand finalists Pakenham in round one, with Pakenham reaching 6/110 before rain stymied Upper Beaconsfield’s attempts to run through the Lions’ tail.
The catalysts of the round two win were Trent McHale, Aidan Whitfield, Scott Pitcher and Daniel Brennan.
With Cobras medium-pacer Matt Dennerley ripping apart the top order, Upper Beaconsfield was in trouble at 5/24 before McHale played a counterattacking 45 off 56.
“Trent was really aggressive and put the pressure back on the bowlers,” First XI captain Will Haines said.
“He took the game out of their hands a little bit and made them have to move away from the aggressive strategies they would have liked to have employed at that time.”
His dismissal at 6/87 caused another flurry of wickets, before a stabilising 49-run partnership propelled by Whitfield’s unbeaten 56 off 94 balls helped deliver the hosts a total of 167.
“Aidan played an anchor innings and batted beautifully and was really mature,” Haines said.
“He took it upon himself to be that batter who stuck around through the rest of the innings.
“He put in a really big preseason even before we started training.
“He’s gotten a lot fitter and stronger and with another year of maturity, it’s great to see him reap the rewards for the hard work he has put in.”
After a dominant season leading a premiership-winning District attack last season, Brennan took two in the first over to give his team momentum, which it maintained for the remainder of the match.
Brennan finished with figures of 4/19 off eight overs, before veteran Scott Pitcher took the last five wickets of the match to finish with 5/18.
“That first over was great, (Daniel) got the ball swinging quite a bit and stuck to our plans and bowled to the field set up and (‘keeper) Cooper (Shipp) being up to the stumps put added pressure on the batters,” Haines said.
“We executed our plans really well.
“Each bowler went with a team first mentality, sticking to our plans rather than chasing wickets.”
Merinda Park was bowled out for 101, and for the second consecutive week, the only bright spot of the batting card belonged to English recruit Ash Slater, whose 51 included three big maximums.
It’s a worrying start to the season for a Cobras outfit which was brimming with confidence that a preseason flurry of recruits would herald a fresh new chapter for them after a sustained period fighting off relegation.
But for Upper Beaconsfield, it’s a statement win that proves they will be competitive in the Premier competition this summer.
There was widespread expectation around the league that Upper Beaconsfield would struggle in the top flight this summer after upsetting Officer in last season’s District grand final.
But Haines highlighted that the club’s sustained strength across multiple years in the District competition gave them confidence they belonged in Premier.
“We haven’t heard any of that and don’t buy into that at all,” Haines said of the talk surrounding his side’s prospects.
“People are allowed to have their opinions but we’ve been competing in District for three years to get back up so we will take it with both hands and if people have that opinion, we’ll try and prove them wrong.
“We just stick to what we do best and hope results come our way if we execute.
“It’s been a positive start and a fun couple of weeks with the boys.”
Upper Beaconsfield will go in as clear underdogs in each of the next three rounds against powerhouses Kooweerup, Cardinia and Tooradin – but as their last three games have shown, that doesn’t faze them.
