Swans squander promising start

By Paul Pickering
TWO brilliant individual performances weren’t enough to get Casey-South Melbourne over the line in its Premier Cricket season-opener against Carlton on Saturday.
The Swans unearthed a star in 21-year-old first-gamer Rohan Blandford (95) and unleashed another in refocused paceman Jayde Herrick (4/34), but took no points away from the one-dayer at Princes Park.
Blandford played a lone hand with the bat as the Swans posted a meagre total of 181, while Herrick’s heroics couldn’t stop the Blues from reaching the target with two wickets and seven overs to spare.
But Swans coach Mark Ridgway was upbeat about the performance against quality opposition.
“I suppose we won the battle, but we lost the war,” he reflected.
“We should have won the game, to be honest. They were 8/169 needing 181, so you shouldn’t lose the game from there.”
The Swans bowled seven wides from that point on to hand Carlton the match.
Matt Hawking (2/43) provided solid support for Herrick with the ball, but the 2008/09 wooden-spooners had few other contributors.
Left-armers Ash Perera (0/42) and Clive Rose (1/44) were expensive, while the Swans’ batsmen lacked the patience to stick with Blandford at the crease.
Craig Entwistle (18), Michael Hansen (12), Robbie Elston (11) and Tom Hussey (10) all squandered double-figure starts as Blandford played industriously at the other end.
Still, given the events of last summer, Ridgway had every right to focus on the positives. Not surprisingly, he saved his highest praise for the boy from Bairnsdale.
“It was a joy to watch the way he approached the game,” Ridgway said of Blandford’s debut innings.
“He looked confident from ball one. He just played traditional cricket shots, kept his head down and watched the ball.
“You’d think he’s got a fairly big future in the game.”
Ridgway also believes that Herrick is the best bowler outside the Victorian squad and, on Saturday’s evidence at least, it’s hard to argue.
Herrick’s aggression will be important if the Swans are to put some pressure on St Kilda this Saturday, with returning Saints star Graeme Rummans waiting at number three.
Rummans made a dashing 79 against Dandenong on the weekend and shapes as the key to St Kilda’s fortunes.