**Winning a grand final might be the best cure for hangover as some of the MERINDA PARK boys can attest to. A large number of the Cobras’ XI for Sunday’s Kookaburra Cup District Grand Final attended a bucks party on Saturday night, leading to some sore heads and tired bodies for a 10am first ball. However, surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) was how open and honest the Merinda Park boys were, with skipper Tyson Bertrand mentioning it in an interview on the Lang Lang Facebook page pregame and Ashley Slater talking quite candidly in the celebrations post-match. Well done to the Cobras, who won by eight wickets to secure the Cup.
**CCCA President Ben Knowles did an excellent job on Sunday overseeing the Kookaburra Cup grand finals as the leader for the association, but it didn’t stop him supporting his beloved CLYDE Cricket Club. After the presentation for the District Grand Final, Knowles went into the change rooms and swapped out the CCCA black official polo for the green and gold polo and Clyde hat for the Premier final. CRICKET SNICKS can confirm he sought permission from TOORADIN to do so, who gave him the green light to support his club. Knowles may be the President of the league but he’s a Cougar through and through.
**A massive shoutout to LANG LANG Cricket Club for hosting a brilliant day on Sunday for the Casey Cardinia Kookaburra Cup grand finals. Organising the raffle, livestreams and entertainment and attractions for the kids was a monumental effort. President Megan King and club legend Bob Taylor did not stop moving all day as well as the whole Tiger crew down there; who did a marvellous job.
**Not again! TOORADIN champion Cal O’Hare broke another bat in Sunday’s Kookaburra Cup grand final when the handle snapped off completely from the wood. O’Hare broke a bat at training last season, making it two in a year for the superstar. However, the new bat brought out to him by Russ Lehman didn’t seem to change anything as O’Hare smashed his way to 74 not out, winning Man of the Match. Hopefully this bat can be repaired with a new handle.
**CRICKET SNICKS had the pleasure of meeting Jake Ward on Sunday – also known as the Local Footy Commentator. Ward, a Pakenham resident, had been given the emcee duties for the Kookaburra Cup grand finals and did a fantastic job. Just like in his footy commentating, his energy never wavered across a long day of cricket. Ward has become quite well-known and is one of the brightest stars in commentary with his unique and up-tempo style. He’s made waves commentating arm wrestling which has sent him all across the world for tournaments and he’s also featured as a guest commentator for SEN for the AFL Legends Game, but he’s also made outstanding calls for games such as DEVON MEADOWS’ historic grand final triumph last season. We’re looking forward to seeing what’s next for the Local Footy Commentator!
**It wouldn’t be grand final day without some technical difficulties! This time, PlayHQ was the culprit. The PlayHQ refused to work at LANG LANG on Sunday for the Premier Kookaburra Cup Grand Final, causing a small delay, so the manual scoreboard was brought out to keep up. A quick shoutout to ‘Howzat Live Streaming’ for also keeping score with the official scorecard being added later. From what we gathered, every time the program was logged into, the result would come up as ‘completed’ before shutting out the user entirely. It feels like we say this every second week in CRICKET SNICKS, but bloody technology, eh?
**MERINDA PARK’s Ashley Slater is one of the most affable characters you’ll ever meet in cricket. The Leeds native talked in an interview with CRICKET SNICKS about the struggles of the Cobras last season and how it was “far too similar” to his team back home in England. But, his team back home was just promoted in the most recent season so fingers crossed for Ash and the boys as they look to replicate that success.
**From what we’re hearing, the CCCA is incredibly pleased with the state of competitiveness across its higher divisions this year, and as it should be. The finals race in Premier and A Grade is well and truly up for grabs with multiple teams contesting. As was reported at the start of the season, a restructure is coming at season’s end for the association with no promise of relegation or promotion at this stage. CRICKET SNICKS is hearing that a particular new-look A Grade landscape is being heavily looked at, but all will be revealed when it is passed on to clubs.
**One door closes and one opens. KOOWEERUP all-rounder and reigning Terry Stephenson Medallist Luke McMaster has been a late withdrawal from Country Week; nut CCCA selectors have not had to look far for a replacement. CCCA stalwart and vice-captain Chris ‘Wombat’ Bright had the pleasurable duty of ringing CLYDE all-rounder Ryan Adams and telling him the spot was his if he wanted. Adams was thrilled to receive the call, with the in-form Cougar, who bowls rapid and hits the ball hard, looming as a real weapon for the CCCA when play begins against the MPCA at Frankston on Monday 9 February.
**Speaking of Country Week, a long held tradition within the group has been an initiation ceremony for all first-time players that include the singing of a song on the team bus, or even better at an inappropriate time. OFFICER’s Cooper Pursell stole the spotlight a couple of years back, standing on his chair in a restaurant and belting out a tune; which was fortunately well-received by all in attendance. Cricket Snicks contributor Dave Nagel was not so impressive, butchering his version of Paradise by the Dashboard Light; but there have been plenty of hits and misses over the years. Long-time players such as Cal O’Hare, Chris Bright and Jason Williams are really looking forward to what the new guys deliver this year.
**A special shoutout to BEACONSFIELD C Grade player Craig Dorling who knocked over a hat-trick against HSD on the synthetic at Heatherbrae Reserve on Saturday. Dorling began his memorable run with the wicket of Matthew Dandridge, then removed Tate Hellier and Brock Kelly with consecutive balls to join the hat-trick club. Dorling finished with figures of 5/16 as the Tigers rolled HSD for 103. The Tigers are 3/73 in reply; Dorling might be called upon this week to try and deliver an outright.
**It will be interesting to find out how many senior coaches (cricket and footy) made their players train in the excessive heat on Tuesday night; with forecast temperatures up to 44 degrees. RICHMOND champion Kevin Bartlett tells the humorous story of how it was a sign of weakness back in the 70s to drink water during pre-season training; no matter how bloody hot it got! Thankfully we’ve now moved past that…stay safe everyone out there!
