Popular clubman Brad Baptist had a rude welcome back to firsts cricket for Casey-South Melbourne against Richmond on Saturday.By Marc McGowan
IT just keeps getting worse for Casey-South Melbourne.
The Swans registered Victorian Premier Cricket one-day defeat number five on Saturday and remain winless as the competition moves into two-day mode this weekend.
Richmond provided the latest beating, this time by nine wickets, at Casey Fields, courtesy of outstanding performances from Victorian stars Adam Crosthwaite and Aiden Blizzard.
Casey-South Melbourne did have a slight excuse after being sent in on a damp pitch, but captain Michael Hansen, whose fractured finger kept him out again and will do so for the upcoming round, refused to blame the deck.
“It would have been preferable to bowl first to put them under that pressure, but really, apart from (English recruit Chris) Benham, who had one explode off the wicket, everyone else got themselves out,” he said.
“You can’t blame the wicket – it was just poor shot selection.”
Wicketkeeper Robbie Elston was the first casualty of the poor opening to the season, dropped in favour of up-and-comer Max Wakefield, who is the identical twin of Victorian under 19 prospect Rueben, for the fixture.
The debutant made a great impression, scoring 27 runs from 61 balls to be the Swans’ second-highest scorer behind the ever-reliable Craig Entwistle (46 from 113 balls).
There was little else for Casey-South Melbourne, which fell to 5/14 – losing Benham and Tim Dale for ducks – before Entwistle and Brad Baptist added 32.
After Baptist’s departure, Max Wakefield joined Entwistle at the crease and they put on a further 47, but once Wakefield was removed it was all over for the Swans.
They were quickly dismissed for 114, with accurate medium-pacer Justin Jaensch (5/18 off seven overs), Victorian quick Allan Wise (2/12 off seven overs) and Sam Taylor (2/35 off 9.5 overs) doing the bulk of the damage.
Casey-South Melbourne veteran Matthew Hawking (1/19 off five overs) banished Matthew Innes to the pavilion with the first ball of Richmond’s innings, but it proved to be the Swans’ only joy.
Even Casey-South Melbourne’s young gun Clive Rose (0/40 off four overs) received rough treatment.
Crosthwaite (68 from 59, with 12 fours and two sixes) greeted Rose’s entry into the attack with a four, a six and a four in the left-arm orthodox spinner’s first three balls.
Blizzard (48 from 46, five fours and two sixes) was similarly dismissive of the Swans’ bowling as the duo passed Casey-South Melbourne’s total in just 17.3 overs.
Hansen was lost for words in describing his team’s effort, but believes it can partly be put down to the off-season clean-out of players.
“It’s disappointing that we haven’t started off the way we would have liked, but … if you look at last year’s list to this year, we got rid of four to five players that played firsts cricket last year,” he said.
“We had to make some hard decisions for the long-term benefit of the club.”
Luke Chapple is in line to make his debut for the firsts after scoring an unbeaten 80 for the seconds on the weekend, particularly with the Wakefield twins, who both attend Haileybury College, headed back to private school commitments for an extended period.
Hansen expects to be competitive in this Saturday’s two-day clash with Footscray-Edgewater at Merv Hughes Oval from 11am.
“There is a lot of hard work to do. It is a little bit frustrating and, as with any sporting club, when you’re developing players there is inconsistency,” he said.
“We have to try and help develop their way through that, so that each ball in games they make the best decision possible.”
