Casey-South Melbourne captain Michael Hansen will be absent again against the Camberwell Magpies this Saturday because of his fractured finger.By Marc McGowan
AMID another heavy loss, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Casey-South Melbourne.
The latest defeat – by 149 runs to Footscray-Edgewater – leaves the Swans as the only winless side in Victorian Premier Cricket after six rounds.
Batting has been Casey-South Melbourne’s biggest problem over the past few seasons, and the signing of star English recruit Chris Benham was hailed as going a long way towards solving it.
But the Hampshire right-hander has struggled through the early stages of the season.
That all changed on the weekend, with Benham top-scoring in both of Casey-South Melbourne’s innings.
His knocks of 67 and 58 were also supported by two breakthrough innings from Australian under-19 prodigy Clive Rose.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Rose has been touted for his all-round abilities, but until now had shown little with the bat.
He crafted a tidy 28 in the first dig before an equally impressive unbeaten 35 the second time around.
If the 18-year-old can maintain that form – along with further strong showings from Benham – it will drastically improve the Swans’ fortunes.
Outside these two players, however, it was a miserable afternoon for Casey-South Melbourne.
Chasing what to the Swans was a mountainous total of 8/296, they lost three quick wickets at the end of play the previous Saturday to be in deep trouble.
It did not get any better on resumption for Casey-South Melbourne, with gun batsmen Craig Entwistle and Robbie Elston departing to make it 5/27.
Benham and debutant Luke Chapple provided some resistance before the latter was run out for 10.
Then came the 73-run partnership between Benham and Rose, but it was always going to be a difficult task to recover.
Once all-rounder Carl Sandri (3/30) removed Rose, then Benham, within three runs, the Swans crumbled to be all out for 147.
They were sent in again and the usual names contributed – although Entwistle was out cheaply to suffer a rare double failure – but it was another sorry scorecard for Casey-South Melbourne.
Tim Dale (38) and Marc Ferne (30) joined Benham and Rose in the runs, but Chapple (10) was the only other member of the line-up to reach double digits, and only just at that.
No Bulldog bowler tore through the Swans in either innings, but instead the win was due to a quality team performance – something Casey-South Melbourne could learn from.
Injured Swans captain Michael Hansen, who will also miss this weekend’s fixture against the Camberwell Magpies, believes his squad was simply outclassed.
“It’s frustrating, but we’re just lacking the depth that other clubs have got – Footscray is a pretty good team,” he said.
“On paper and with the way they performed, they were better than us.
“The previous week we gave away five chances in the field and we can’t afford to be doing that.
“It’s frustrating, but we just have to keep at it.”
Hansen praised Benham’s output, and hopes it is a sign of more promising results for the rest of the year.
“That was a good thing,” he said.
“We changed him from opening to the middle order to kick start his season, but ultimately we need him back in the top three because that’s the reason we got him.”
Casey-South Melbourne will seek its first win of the season when it steps out for day one of its two-day contest against the Magpies at Casey Fields from 11am on Saturday.
