ALL seven teams within the Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A Grade competition remain in the hunt for a premiership finals spot as the competition resumes today after the Christmas Break.

This is the final round of the One Day Shield section of the draw, with Grampians already booked in for the final on Australia Day.

St Andrew’s, Pigeon Ponds and Casterton District are all still capable of claiming other spot, but Casterton District needs to not only win its game against Hamilton, but Pigeon Ponds and St Andrew’s must play a tie to come from behind to grab a spot.

That scenario is highly unlikely (the tie part of it), so likely it will be either the Drews or the Pigeons battling the Pumas in 19 days at Dahl Turf.

Pigeon Ponds v St Andrew’s

THE Christmas period was not a happy one for St Andrew’s skipper, Russell Elton, who had an accident at home and broke his arm, which rules him out for the Drews’ clash today.

Simon Hatherell will lead the side in his absence in a game where a win will guide the team to second spot on the one-day ladder.

Brendan Huf currently leads the run getters list for the competition with 267 against his name at an average of 89.00, and the veteran will open the innings for the visitors.

He and James Guthrig have been the Drews’ opening combination for much of the season with Guthrig finding form by posting his second career A grade half century in the last round before the break.

The sad indictment for the side is that Huf, Guthrig and Elton are the only St Andrew’s batsmen who appear in the top 30 on the run getters list, and with Elton out for possibly five to six weeks, it falls to the rest of the side to finally stand alongside the opening batsmen and make runs.

Pigeon Ponds has three players in that top 30 list as well, but only Simon Close (201) has posted more than 80 runs for the summer to date.

There are simply too many good players in both sides for this situation to continue, because if Close or Huf fall cheaply then the line ups will be under immense pressure.

Hamilton v Casterton District

AFTER the deluge the district suffered during spring which inundated many venues across the region, Dahl Turf will finally stage its first game of the summer when Hamilton hosts Casterton District today with both teams having differing reasons to win the match.

Hamilton is currently sitting at the foot of the premiership ladder but remain in contention for a finals spot if it can win four of the remaining five games.

Casterton District needs to win this match (and hope the Ponds-Drew’s game ends in a tie) to have any chance of reaching the One Day Shield final.

Even if it doesn’t reach the final, the Maroons can take a huge step towards playing finals by winning the game and the catch-up game they have against Pigeon Ponds which would place the side in second spot on the premiership ladder.

If Pigeon Ponds fails to reach the One Day Shield final, then the catch-up game is slated to be played on Australia Day too.

Casterton District will have all its stars for this match with Rick and Matt Killey plus Kane Forbes and Ben Holmes all expected to return to the team that was soundly beaten by Grampians just before the break.

Hamilton needs more runs from the top order if it’s to climb from the bottom rung of the ladder but with Casterton District back to full strength for the game, the visitors will be favoured to claim the points.

Macarthur v Grampians

GRAMPIANS travels south to Macarthur today knowing it cannot be knocked from the top of either the premiership or One Day Shield ladders, after an undefeated first half of the summer before Christmas.

Before the break, the Pumas were firing on all cylinders with all aspects of the game in sync, as runs flowed from the bats of Will Collins, Carl Joyce and Zac Burgess, while Joyce, Harrison Wood and Josh Gordon are all comfortably inside the top 10 wicket takers for the competition.

On the flip side, Macarthur is struggling with only a single victory to its credit (against Hamilton in round six), but due to the number of drawn games this season the Demons are only a win out of the top four.

Michael Brilley and Jack Wortley are leading the way with the bat in hand, but the rest of the line-up must record a form reversal if the side is to compete for a finals place come March.

Brilley has returned to the bowling crease this summer and his last outing against Pigeon Ponds saw him claim career best figures of 6-10.

The Demons have been close in all their matches to date but being close doesn’t win games and they must turn this form line around in the remaining four games if the side is to reach that fourth spot.

Grampians should keep its undefeated run intact.