Below: Acting skipper Jayde Herrick appeals unsuccessfully for an LBW decision during his side’s loss to Dandenong on Saturday.TWO days of poor cricket has halted the considerable momentum that Casey-South Melbourne took into the opening weekend of Premier Cricket.
The Swans surrendered their Casey Fields home to local rival Dandenong and Fitzroy Doncaster in back-to-back one-dayers over the weekend.
The new split-innings format was not kind to the home side, which struggled mightily with the bat on its way to all-out totals of 143 and 144.
Dandenong wasted little time in unveiling new English import Alex Hales (26) on Saturday, the Nottinghamshire batsman combining with Nick Thomas (49) in a 57-run opening partnership that put the Swans on the back foot.
Casey arrival Nathan Freitag broke the partnership by dismissing Hales, but Panthers skipper Darren Dempsey (30) proved no less damaging as the visitors surged to 1/87 from their 20-over shift.
The Swans were all but gone after slumping to 4/48 from their first dig, with boom recruits Peter Trego (21) and Dimitri Deane (19) both squandering starts.
Dandenong added another 98 runs from their 25-over innings to put the result beyond doubt, although acting Swans skipper Jayde Herrick (40, seven boundaries) and youngster Justin Davis (24) landed some lusty blows in the late overs.
The home side was more circumspect against the Lions on Sunday, moving cautiously to 2/44 in the morning session.
Left-arm paceman Ash Perera found his rhythm early to stifle Fitzroy’s response, but went unrewarded until Peter Dickson (13) played back onto his stumps in the ninth over.
The Swans struck again when Englishman Trego scooped up a brilliant left-handed catch at third slip off Perera to send Eric Ghasperidis back for a duck.
But former Victorian opener Lloyd Mash (74 not out) and current Bushrangers all-rounder Glen Maxwell (58 not out) launched a Lions counter-attack, blasting their way to 2/74 from their first innings and continuing on unbeaten in a dominant last dig.
They passed Casey-South Melbourne’s total of 144 – highlighted by Craig Entwistle’s patient 46 – with 15 overs and eight wickets to spare.
That left the Swans with no points and a lot of questions to answer from a frustrating opening weekend.
Trego showed a bit of everything in his first taste of Aussie cricket, but he was among few bright spots for the hosts.
The Swans lost their first two games last season and went on to finish the regular season in fourth place, so it goes without saying that all is not lost.
Still, Mark Ridgway’s charges will be desperate to right the ship when they travel to the Albert Ground to face a talent-laden Melbourne outfit this Saturday.
