By Nick Creely
THE SCRIPT couldn’t have been written any better, as Casey-South Melbourne claimed an early season scalp, defeating last year’s runners-up Ringwood by four wickets in an entertaining clash at Casey Fields on Saturday.
Ringwood skipper David King won the toss and elected to bat, on a glorious spring day in Melbourne.
Last season’s runners-up Ringwood were seen as the clear favourites to defeat Casey, however, as the club has stated on numerous occasions over the pre-season, this young list is capable of going to great heights this season.
In what was a terrific start for the Swans, speedster Nathan Lambden snared Joseph Loorham caught behind for a duck early, setting the tone for an exceptional display of disciplined bowling and fielding.
The energy within the group was plain to see, as the fielders built pressure, kept the talk up and made life difficult for the visiting favourites.
Casey was able to constantly restrict Ringwood from getting any fluency in its batting, and constant wickets halted the Rams from making a charge, leaving them with a lowly total of 126 off 48.2 overs.
At one point, a stunned Ringwood batting line-up was withering at 7-46, and Casey were to do no wrong.
One of the biggest moments was the prized scalp of David King.
The gun batsman ploughed almost 1000 runs last season, but the Swans bogged the opener down, keeping him to just 13 off 56 balls, before frustration got the better of him and Brendan Rose claimed him.
But a few late partnerships ensured Ringwood got too a total that they could defend with a strong bowling line-up.
Opening bowlers Leigh Diston (1-40 off 10) and spearhead Nathan Lambden (2-9 off 9.2) bowled with great pace and pressure, while Brendan Rose (2-10 off 10) and Dylan Hadfield (2-31 off 10) bowled accurately and bogged the Rams down.
But it was a young left-arm quick that truly arrived on the Premier stage; Jackson Fry.
The 22-year-old, who first became a staple of Casey’s first XI in the latter stages of last season, stunned the Rams in a brilliant spell of bowling, and finished with 3-34 from his nine overs.
His first victim was the left-handed Jackson Freeman, hooping the ball through the gates and knocking out middle-stump.
Just four balls later, in the very same over, Fry knocked over Jonty Rushton in a similar vein, with his celebration resembling some of Mitchell Johnson’s very best.
But it was also Fry’s ability to take crucial wickets that stood out.
With Brendan Walsh (30) and Patrick Ashton (23) starting to get going and the Rams possibly looking at lifting their score to 150 and upwards, Fry was brought back into the attack by skipper Lachlan Sperling, and snared the key wicket of Ashton caught behind.
Fry bowls with aggression, and will no doubt excite the Swans coaching staff with his scope for continued improvement.
With the bat, the Swans set themselves to play patiently and weather the storm of some of Premier Cricket’s top-line pace bowlers.
Matt Fotia and Michael Topp of Ringwood troubled the Swans early, with Kasun Suriaratchie and Ashan Wijayakumara getting through a very testing first period with the new ball.
Fotia and Topp, who have played plenty of second XI cricket for Victoria, were aggressive, but a determined Swans were unrelenting and set the scene for an entertaining run chase.
When Suriaratchie was dismissed for 15 off 42 balls by Rams skipper David King, Casey struggled similarly to find gaps in the field as Ringwood’s quality bowling line-up started to ramp up the pressure and hone in on the Swans.
When Devin Pollock (12) fell to some express pace from Matt Fotia, the score read 2-46, and the Rams got their tail up, confident they could tear through the middle-order.
But Casey is not a team to take lightly this season, with crucial knocks from Wijayakumara (39), Sperling (22) and Michael Wallace (23) quashing any chance Ringwood could realistically win the match.
The latter, Michael Wallace, was particularly exciting, with a vast collection of expansive shots when Ringwood got the tails up just one of many moments that won the Swans the game.
Wijayakumara also played a gutsy knock not truly reflected on the scorecard.
Previous to the match on Saturday, the opening batsman averaged just 5.75 in his 8 innings at 1st XI level, but his knock against the Rams has the potential to be a defining moment in his development as a Premier cricketer.
His ability to stay patient and pick the right ball too attack and defend was a real highlight, and his delicate late cutting was a successful tactic in keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Despite copping some words from Ringwood’s quicks, the brave opener withstood pressure and helped carry the Swans to an important victory.
It is a big win to kick-start the season for the club, and the Swans will take great confidence in beating a quality outfit with a young side.
The Swans will now face Northcote next week at Bill Lawry Oval in another one-dayer.
