By JARROD POTTER
VICTORIAN PREMIER CRICKET – Round 8
ON-FIELD rivals and team mates alike united across Victoria to honour the life of Australian Test cricketer Phillip Hughes.
Keeping his love of cricket alive, the cricket community pulled on the whites and made way to the crease with a heavy heart as everyone put their bats out and honoured Hughes – who tragically passed away on Thursday after an on-field accident in a Sheffield Shield match.
Dazzling blue skies contrasted the sombre feeling around the grounds, but it was fittingly divine intervention for cricketers to get a full day’s play and return to the game that Hughes loved most of all.
With incredible blue tones overhead there was left only cloudy eyes as everyone fought back tears to keep Phillip Hughes’ dream alive. From that point Dandenong (217) clashed with Footscray-Edgewater (0/33) with hearts and minds not in the game.
A simple 63-second silence in honour of Hughes’ final innings of 63 not out was shared between the Panthers’ and Bulldogs’ players, staff and fans before the first ball.
Hughes’ sudden passing dug at every cricket fan and player, but it weighed heaviest on those who knew him personally or strode to the crease alongside the power-packed Australian Test cricketer.
Phillip’s Test team mate James Pattinson was listed on the Dandenong team sheet, but no one expected him to play as he remains in Sydney to attend the funeral of a friend.
Also suffering the strain of losing a mate, Panthers’ opener Brett Forsyth (3) carried extreme heartache along with his pads and bat as he walked to the crease to open.
Forsyth shared junior representative duties with Hughes and it was to his credit that he continued playing despite the heartbreak surrounding cricket’s worst week.
It wasn’t meant to be Forsyth’s day at the crease – caught out edging Guy Walker early in his innings – and his dismissal brought Peter Sweeney (52) to the crease on a day for Sweeney to shine.
Showing off the talents that earned him first-drop in the Panthers’ line-up, Sweeney toiled to stay at the crease in a dogged 134-ball half-ton. Sweeney was brought undone leaving the tail exposed with a small score on the table, but the last ditch efforts of Matt Willcocks (33 not out) and James Wilcock (30) pushed Dandenong out of danger at 8/149 to advance past 200.
Berwick all-rounder Tanner Stanton (11) had his first taste of 1st two-day cricket for the Panthers and will hope to snare a few scalps on Sunday as his 1st XI career continues.
Footscray-Edgewater knocked over Dandenong’s total and finished the day at 6/292. Travis Dean was unbeaten with 125 not out while for the home side, James Wilcock (2/47) was the best of the bowlers.
Dandenong now faces Monash Tigers and Melbourne Uni in back-to-back Twenty20s this weekend.
CASEY-SOUTH MELBOURNE
Another winless week greeted Casey-South Melbourne (117 and 3/79) as Melbourne (5/320dec) finished off the Swans effortlessly.
Despite the bowling work of Daniel Watson (3/69) and Kasun Suriaratchie (0/63), Casey could not curtail the might of Melbourne on the luxurious Albert Ground as Alex Keath (100 not out) and Peter Petricola (99) feasted on Swan meat.
In response on Sunday the visitors failed to make much headway. Josh Holden (33) was the best of the bunch while Ryan Eaton (25) also held his head up as the wickets tumbled. Sent back in to bat again, Casey held out for 34 overs to avoid outright defeat as Michael Wallace (33 not out) and Lachlan Sperling (20 not out) persevered against the Melbourne attack.
Casey-South Melbourne faces Ringwood and Northcote in its two Twenty20s this weekend.
