Casey-South Melbourne all-rounder Tim Dale was out cheaply in his first dig on the weekend, but his aggressiveness paid off late in the day with a speedy 37 against Geelong at Casey Fields. Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Marc McGowan
BY 1.52pm on Saturday afternoon after being sent into bat, Casey-South Melbourne had hoped to be on its way to a formidable total against Geelong at Casey Fields.
The Swans would not have expected to have been bowled out, and certainly not for a disastrous total of 82, less than three hours after the start of play.
But that is exactly how events panned out for struggling Casey-South Melbourne, which faces yet another outright Premier Cricket defeat this weekend.
Swans captain Michael Hansen summed up his club’s plight perfectly.
“It was a shock. If I’d won the toss I was going to bat anyway and try to bat for a day and another hour given the strength of their batting team, but we just collapsed,” he said.
In-form wicketkeeper Robbie Elston top-scored with just 20, with English recruit Chris Benham next best with a meagre 14.
Geelong opening bowlers Trent Walerys (4/31 from 15 overs) and Marc Carson (3/18 from 10 overs) did the bulk of the damage.
Walerys’ fourth victim made it 42 for the season, bettering his own club record from last summer.
The finals-bound Cats then spent most of the day toying with Casey-South Melbourne’s attack, particularly the fading Lukas Hoogenboom, who has slipped dramatically from his strong early season form.
Victorian Bushrangers rookie bladesman Aaron Finch (61 runs off 78 balls, eight fours and one six) continued his banner year, surpassing the 1000-run mark for 2007-08.
He became just the eighth player to achieve the feat and is now within reach of Dandenong captain-coach Warren Ayres’ all-time season aggregate record.
Finch was joined in the runs by former Australian under-19 captain Clinton Peake (40 not out off 34) and Joel Davies (36 off 59, five fours and one six).
All-up it was a fairly good bowling effort by the Swans, but once Geelong captain-coach Damian Shanahan declared the innings closed at 6/213 the Cats had amassed a 131-run buffer.
Casey-South Melbourne made a better fist of its second batting effort of the day, with the flashy – if undisciplined – Tim Dale (37 off 46, six fours) and Rhys Serpanchy compiling a 40-run opening alliance.
But Serpanchy’s dismissal was soon followed by Dale, leaving nightwatchman Matthew Hawking and Benham to hold the fort.
They hung on as the Swans went to stumps at a precarious 2/55 – still 76 runs behind.
Hansen, who has had his share of batting and injury woes this season, lauded his side’s bowling performance, particularly Luke van Raay (1/43 from 12 overs), but was thoroughly disappointed with his batsmen.
He is optimistic that his team can produce a much-improved performance when the game resumes at 11am on Saturday.
“All we can do is bat well in the first session and if we don’t the day is almost over,” Hansen said.
“(Injuries and unavailable players) doesn’t help, but that doesn’t excuse what’s happening, really.
“Even with the players out, we have enough players in our team that are capable that we should be in a position to get 300 runs each week.”
Australian under-19 representative Clive Rose returns from World Cup duties in Malaysia this week and may come into the Swans squad at Englishman Richard Lewis’ expense.
