Above: Team-mates rush to congratulate Swan Lukas Hoogenboom, who claimed the first three wickets of the contest.By Marc McGowan
THE Casey-South Melbourne team that lost its first six encounters of the Victorian Premier Cricket season is now a distant memory after the Swans racked up victory number two at Casey Fields on Sunday.
Another evenly contributed batting effort – headlined by Hampshire recruit Chris Benham (64, 10 fours) – helped Casey-South Melbourne pass Fitzroy-Doncaster’s total with 15 balls and six wickets remaining.
The match became a one-dayer after rain ruined the first day of play on Saturday.
Along with Benham’s sterling performance, second-gamer Max Wakefield (41) impressed again and Craig Entwistle’s season continued to gather steam with an unbeaten 22.
The other top scorers were all-rounder Tim Dale (24) and under-siege wicketkeeper Robbie Elston (23 not out).
Elston handed the gloves to Wakefield for the contest in a sure-fire sign his place is under threat.
He will face increasing pressure in the second half of the season when injured all-rounders Luke van Raay and Reuben Wakefield and Victorian under-19 representative Clive Rose return.
While the batters claimed the glory, it was Swans right-arm quick Lukas Hoogenboom (4/33 from 10 overs) who set the tone for the day’s proceedings by snaring the first three wickets with just 15 runs on the board. And with Victorian second XI opener Peter Dickson retiring hurt for just two, Fitzroy-Doncaster was on the back foot from the outset.
The revival firstly came between Tim Sheehan (86 not out, eight fours) and Bushrangers all-rounder Brad Knowles (34) before Sheehan and Peter Dunlop’s (60 not out) undefeated 117-run union guided their side to 5/209 after 50 overs.
Despite having yet to establish a regular opening partnership, Casey-South Melbourne started well again before Mark Winton (2/51 from 10 overs) dismissed the aggressive Dale.
But the runs just kept on coming through classy Englishman Benham, and every batsman reached at least 21.
After the dreary predictions early on in the season, the Swans’ prospects could not be brighter, and captain Michael Hansen is delighted with the turnaround.
“I think in December and just before we’ve done really well,” he said. “A couple of bad mistakes and decisions in games were costing us early in the season, but we’re getting through them and the batsmen are making runs.”
Hansen highlighted the confidence Benham’s input is instilling at Casey Fields.
“With him batting at three, those batsmen are expected to be making runs week in and week out,” he said. “We’ve been able to produce bigger partnerships at the top of the order and that takes pressure off the bottom of the order, which creates a better situation.
“He’s been fantastic since the Footscray game – he’s batting beautifully.”
And while rival clubs may be sniggering at the optimism being generated from only two wins, Hansen believes the positive vibes are warranted.
“After Christmas, we’ll get Clive, Vanny and Reubs back, and, from my perspective, we will be an extremely strong team with a high expectation of doing well,” he said. “I would say we need to improve on our consistency of performance. We don’t want to get too carried away and we need to be doing the right things like team partnerships, building pressure and taking catches.”
Casey-South Melbourne returns to action on 5 January in the country round, when it faces Frankston-Peninsula in a one-day fixture at Western Park in Warragul.
