Englishman Chris Benham hit the ball all over Casey Fields during his 175-ball knock of 109 for Casey-South Melbourne against Camberwell on Saturday.By Marc McGowan
THE introduction of a heavier cricket pitch roller and a dash of English brilliance delivered Casey-South Melbourne’s first convincing batting performance of the season on Saturday.
It did not hurt that the Swans had Australian cricket legend Shane Warne to perform in front of either.
Casey-South Melbourne finally finished a day of Victorian Premier Cricket satisfied with its work after posting 7/316 against the Camberwell Magpies at Casey Fields.
Classy import Chris Benham (109 runs off 175 balls, with 15 fours) paced the innings with a superb century, which he brought up with a flick down leg side for four on the 154th delivery he faced.
It was the Hampshire batsman’s presence in the match that attracted Warne, Benham’s County captain, to the region’s premier sporting complex.
Benham did not look like going out until partner Luke Chapple (35 off 71) drove spinner Jack McNamara (1/66) back down the ground, only for the ball to rebound off McNamara’s hand onto the stumps with Benham stranded.
But Benham, who cracked 67 and 58 the previous weekend, was far from the only success.
The four-ton roller’s effect on the deck was immediate – it is more than double the weight of its predecessor – and had the Swans’ bladesmen pondering continued high totals for the foreseeable future.
Other big stories to arise from day one of the clash were the batting outputs of teenagers Chapple and Clive Rose (34 off 84, with four fours).
Chapple, in just his second first XI game, was aggressive and confident during his 72-minute stay at the crease and has injected a much-needed spark to the Swans’ line-up.
For Rose, after setting consecutive career-high scores of 28 and 35 not out last round, it was another peak at his all-round talents.
His left-arm orthodox spinners will be a major key when Casey-South Melbourne’s turn with the ball arrives this weekend.
The other impressive aspect of the Swans’ display was the fightback from Rose and Robbie Elston after Benham and Chapple departed within seven runs of one another.
The former pair dug in and negotiated the next 10 overs for just 11 runs as they got their eyes in.
Rose was disappointingly removed in the third-last over of the day, but Elston (22 not out off 63) and Matthew Hawking (9 not out) made sure there were no further wickets before the end of play.
Former Casey-South Melbourne quick Troy Ryan (2/67 from 20 overs) generated plenty of bounce – but also seven no balls – to be the pick of the Magpie bowlers, along with Stephen Gribble (2/58 off 16).
Stand-in Swans skipper Craig Entwistle, who is deputising for the injured Michael Hansen, liked what he saw from his team-mates.
“Probably the most impressive and pleasing thing was that we batted right through the 100 overs,” Entwistle said.
“The way we approached it was to focus on batting all day, even if we made 20 or 30 runs less than we would have liked.
“It didn’t matter because at least now we have the option to bat this week.”
Casey-South Melbourne is likely to bat on for up to an hour on Saturday as it is wary of the dangerous Camberwell line-up, including Ireland World Cup representative Jeremy Bray.
The Magpies have already shown they can produce the goods with the willow after smacking 9/421 against Dandenong last round.
“We’ll assess that on Saturday morning when we look at the wicket,” Entwistle said.
“From our perspective, at the moment, we haven’t been bowling sides out, which tends to suggest we need a few more runs behind us to put their batsmen under pressure.”
The encounter continues at Casey Fields on Saturday from 11am as the Swans seek their first victory of the year.
