By Paul Pickering
CASEY-South Melbourne coach Mark Ridgway was unsure how his team blew its chance to claim top spot on the Premier Cricket ladder on Saturday.
The Swans looked to be cruising towards Prahran’s total of 205 in the one-dayer at Casey Fields but imploded to lose 8/59, finishing 14 runs short and surrendering the points that would have given them sole possession of first place.
Maybe it was that rarefied air that suffocated the Swans. And you couldn’t blame them.
They have been the story of the summer so far, rising from last spot in 2008/09 to fifth place heading into the Christmas break.
Ridgway rates their season so far as a “nine out of 10”, but Saturday’s collapse was a reminder that the Swans are still green.
“To be honest, I don’t really know what happened – I guess panic set in,” he said.
The home side looked every bit the winner with Robbie Elston (76) and Craig Entwistle (31) at the crease mid-way through the chase, but the tide turned when Elston was trapped in front by True Blues paceman Cam Huckett (3/25) with the score on 132.
Entwistle exited soon after, bringing skipper Damien Wright to the wicket as the required run-rate edged towards six per over.
Wright (29 from 23 balls) watched on from the non-striker’s end as partners Jayde Herrick, Tim Dale, Tom Hussey and Clive Rose came and went, each faltering under the pressure.
The Swans needed 14 from the last four balls when Wright eventually scooped the ball down Huckett’s throat at square leg to end the innings.
Earlier, it was the left-arm orthodox spin of Rose that brought the Swans back into the contest by dismissing Prahran pair Ryan Heywood (59) and Darren Dewar (60), who added 81 for the third wicket.
Rose (2/29) and Wright (1/30) were the best of the Swans’ bowlers, while Mathew Hawking claimed 2/48 from his eight overs.
Ridgway was typically frank in his assessment of the match, and indeed the first half of the season.
“It was disappointing (on Saturday), because we cost ourselves top spot,” he said.
“And there’s no way Prahran are a better team than us. Our bowling was poor early and bad late, and the batting was good early and bad late.
“We need to be more consistent, because you can’t go from making 355 against Melbourne one week to falling like a deck of cards the next week.”
Ridgway said he was “pretty satisfied” with the summer to date and believed that three wins from the next five games would be enough to secure the club’s first finals appearance since moving to Casey Fields in 2006/07.
Casey-South Melbourne’s first game of 2010 will be against Essendon at Maryborough on Saturday 9 January.
