AFTER 21 rounds and a semi-final, the Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A grade premiership will be decided today with College and Macarthur facing off at Melville Oval.
The Eagles have carried all before them this summer with the T20 Premiership (and the $3,500 prize money that goes with it) already in their keeping, and they now enter the decider looking to secure the Dundas Cup for the first time in 20 years.
It has been nine years since the Eagles played in the decider and there will be five players who take the field this afternoon who were there for that last appearance.
Hamish Bailey, Angus and Lachie Brown, Lachie Watt and Heath Schmidt all played that fateful match, while Jason Schmidt may receive a call up to make it six players returning, but they will not carry fond memories, as the side that season was thrashed by a dominant Grampians team.
They can take comfort knowing that the player of the match from that season decider, Kane Uebergang, will be among their numbers this season, and they will be hoping that he reproduces his form from that game here.
But that was nearly a decade ago and the this is a different side that will battle Macarthur on Saturday. Not only that but the teams are playing a different format due to the dreaded COVID, having seen all but a couple of competitions across Victoria reduced to the one-day format instead of the traditional longer format.
The Demons have the edge over the Eagles so far this season, winning both 45-over contests this season.
Macarthur has got all 10 wickets in both contests, bowling the Eagles out for 159 at Macarthur in round eight, before restricting the Eagles to 189 all out in round 16 at College Turf.
Despite that, the minor premiers go into the contest confident and skipper, Charles Murrie said it was great to see the club fighting for the Dundas Cup once again.
“It has been a big shock for me, the way things started off is a big contrast to how we have ended up now,” he said.
“We have gone from strength to strength, and I couldn’t ask for anymore from everyone who has been involved, so I am pretty excited just to see how we end up.
“We haven’t played a lot at Melville Oval, and it is always such a special occasion and hopefully we can put on a bit of a show if anyone wants to come down and have a look.
“You always think you’re a bit of a sniff, but I think it was the final ball of the game last week when it sunk in.
“We have been in some good positions in the past and haven’t been able to get to this point.”
Murrie said the club’s ability to field a team in all four senior grades has had an effect with growth from within helping players improve their skills.
“We have worked together a lot more over the past couple of years and seen some awesome development in the younger lads,” he said.
“We have got four grades now and the growth has come from within, I have been lucky in that regard, and it has all just sort of fallen into place.
“We have got some pretty good players, let’s just hope we can all bring our best on the day and the result will take care of itself on the day.
“We are up against a good team though, so you just never know and can’t look too far ahead.”
As for whether Jason Schmidt will be selected, Murrie was non-committal when asked about Schmidt’s chances of selection.
“Jason has been pushing really hard and has had a couple of good performances in the lead-up, but everyone is in great form and it is a great headache to have,” he said.
Macarthur is riding a wave of success into the final, finishing the regular season in third before smashing Hamilton by nine wickets in last week’s semi-final.
Demons captain, Jeremy Sheehan, will be backing his team to put together a match-winning performance, in what shapes up to be an enthralling finale to the season.
“It is exciting, but it is going to be challenging against a top team,” Sheehan said.
“They finished on top for a reason.”
The red and blue will go into the decider with 12 players, as the team looks to repeat its efforts from seven days ago.
Sheehan said the improvement in the team’s bowling efforts was well timed, as the team would need to be at its best to minimise College’s scoring.
“I thought batting was our strength, but the last couple of weeks have showed the bowling is quite strong,” he said.
“We haven’t used Matt Timms and Charlie Summers to a certain extent, so to not need to use them shows we have got some really good depth with the bowling.
“College has got a good batting line-up though, so it doesn’t matter where we put it, they will try and score runs.”
Despite going in as the lower ranked team, Sheehan said Macarthur was not going into the clash with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude.
“I think there is still a lot to lose for us, we have beaten them twice in the two one-dayers we have played against them, so there is probably a bit more pressure on them than us, but they finished on top and are a good team,” he said.
“I am just hoping the kids like Ollie (Wortley), Zebb (Nield) and Kyle Smitten continue their good form into the game.
“We also have Red (Matt Timms), Kyall Timms, Mick Brilley, Brad Sheen from Warrnambool, so we have got some pretty good experience in the team.”
The game is scheduled to get underway at 1pm.