ST Andrew’s face a tough test against ladder leading Tyrendarra in round three of the Hamilton and District Cricket Association A grade competition today at Clem Young Oval.

The Drews posted their first win of the season last weekend against Portland Colts in a nail-bitter that wasn’t won until the penultimate ball of the contest.

St Andrew’s travelled to Portland for the first two rounds of the summer and no doubt will be happy to be at home where the players are more familiar with the conditions.

Today the teams will look to make a statement against each other for the rest of the competition to sit up and take notice of, with Tyrendarra seeking to remain undefeated and win with another bonus point, while St Andrew’s needs to claim a second victory and knock off the top side.

Josh Nield returns for the home side and along with Latham Wishart should take the new ball, but the team will be without Taine Morris, Kane Taylor and wicketkeeper, Simon Hatherell, who are all unavailable.

James Guthrig has opened the bowling in the first two games and bowled with economy while snaring a wicket in each game, but with Nield and Wishart in the side Guthrig may become a change bowler today.

One player who may feature for the Drews is veteran opening batsman, Michael Fitzpatrick, who would bolster the batting line up after the loss of Taylor and Morris, and Fitzpatrick may don the keeper’s gloves as a replacement for Hatherell.

Tyrendarra is humming along and unless there is mass player unavailability will have a settled team that is performing in all facets.

The Darras bat deep in the order and it must have been pleasing for the team to see Jordi Withers remain not-out last week with 41 against his name, as the side easily chased down 150 set by Pigeon Ponds.

Mark Pitt, Shay Rhodes and Brett Litchfield have led the way with the ball, as the side has taken all 20 available wickets across the first two rounds and is yet to bowl a full 45 over innings to date.

 Tyrendarra has started the season with two bonus point victories from the first two rounds to sit alone atop the premiership ladder, and it must be favoured to win this match.

Pigeon Ponds v Casterton District

PIGEON Ponds has started the summer with two losses in its first two games and must get the better of arch rival, Casterton District, at Pigeon Ponds Recreation Reserve today or face the possibility of missing the finals.

Ponds love to attack when batting, but the side is yet to bat out the allotted 45 overs in either game, and must look to ensure they make the Maroons spend the full time in the field.

While Simon Close has been able to bat and hobble between the wickets due to his knee injury suffered while playing football, it’s his bowling that the team is missing most.

With several players unavailable last round, the side was badly undermanned and it’s to be hoped that players such as Michael Close, Jack Beaton and Joel Staude are back for the game.

Casterton District on the other hand is flying high after winning both its opening games and one of those was with a bonus point, as the Maroons sit second on the ladder.

The Maroons are a settled unit with only Kane Forbes likely to come into the side that took the field last round after Forbes was unavailable.

The whole side is in form at this early stage of the season, but Ben Holmes and Rick Killey are the stand out players with bat while Logan Gibbs and Jacob Edwards are leading the way with the ball.

Hamilton v Grampians

HAMILTON and Grampians meet at Monivae College Turf today with Hamilton seeking to defeat its arch rivals and post its first win of the summer.

Hamilton collapsed against South Portland last weekend at this venue to be all out for only 85 and needs to atone for that performance, while Grampians also had batting woes against College after a solid start handed them by the opening batsmen.

Hamilton may look to promote Noah Cameron and Brett Ezard from its B-C grade side into the top grade after each played well last Saturday.

Each will bolster the batting while Ezard offers economical medium pace as an allrounder.

Grampians’ batting fell away badly after the top three in the order last week and all these players will be hoping for an improved performance today.

The Pumas had 12 players unavailable for selection in their top two grades last Saturday, but that cannot be used as an excuse for the batting collapse after such a strong start provided by the top three.

The team has a genuine spin bowling option in Levi Templeton, who is making a good fist of his selection in the top grade as he uses guile and flight to tempt the opposition batsmen.

Grampians were not far off the mark last round after winning in round one, and they must be favoured to win this game with the current form of the Hamilton team.

South Portland v Gorae-Portland

TWO Portland sides who have had early resurgences since joining the Hamilton and District Cricket Association will battle it out today, as South Portland will host Gorae-Portland at Cavalier Park.

Both teams have had a productive start to the 2023-24 campaign, with Go-Ports undefeated through two rounds, albeit they won their most recent game via forfeit against Macarthur.

Still, a 2-0 start is nothing to scoff at for a club which missed the finals in the 2022-23 season.

Similarly for South, their dominant victory over Hamilton in round two was their first victory since the 2021-22 campaign, and they’ll be looking to build on it as they push for win number two.

South skipper, Lachie Warburton said they benefitted from having a number of contributors who were valuable to the cause with the ball, especially among the younger contingent.

“It was good to see our younger players like Eamon (Drew) and our new recruit Karsen (Edwards) get in the wickets,” Warburton said.

“Also, Rory Barry has been good with bat and ball so far, I’m keen to see how he develops over the course of the season.”

For Go-Ports, they’ll have to rekindle some of their round one momentum after they were disrupted in round two by Macarthur’s forfeit, however after seeing some strong performances across the board in that season opener they’ll be ready for the challenge.

Portland Tigers v College

PORTLAND Tigers will look to make amends for what has been a challenging start to the season, as they’ve lost their opening two rounds to be winless in the season so far.

While they have gotten some starts with the bat, they’ve yet to see anyone kick on for a big score across their two innings.

They’ll be in for a challenge this week if they want to get that first win on the board, as they come up against a College outfit which found its stride last week against Grampians after losing round one.

Portland Colts v Macarthur

PORTLAND Colts will need to rebound after a brutal loss against St Andrews on the weekend in which they were beaten on the penultimate ball of the day, and they’ll have another chance to get a win on their home deck this week when they take on Macarthur.

Luke Evans has been instrumental with the bat so far, yet to be dismissed while making 113 runs for the season, but they’ll need some of the top order to come along with him if they’re to put themselves in the drivers seat.