Harper Sercombe
Sunbury will need to bowl well for victory against Royal Park Brunswick after an interesting day of cricket in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association McNamara Shield season on Saturday.
The winless Roar was sent in amid good bowling conditions and after a good start, captain-coach Kevin Barker said he was disappointed with only reaching 164.
“Obviously we want more [runs] we were in a pretty good position at two for 99 at one stage, so it was a little bit disappointing to end up that way,” he said.
“It was drizzling all day, so the pitch wasn’t as easy as it probably could have been without the rain.
“But we’ve had a chat about it and the top order batters know that the shot selection probably wasn’t as good as it could have been. So we probably set ourselves short, probably anywhere between 60 to 100 runs.
“They sent us in, it’s a good pitch on a small ground but the overhead conditions and the pitch was a little bit soft as well, so I think 164 isn’t the worst score.
“But we’ve got the runs on the board and now we’ve got them one down so hopefully we can bowl well, hold our catches and get the job done next week.”
Being bowled out within 64 overs meant Sunbury were able to have a bowl at Brunswick for the last 13 overs of the day’s play. Brunswick was 1-17 at the end of the day’s play.
“I thought we were pretty stiff not to have a few more [wickets], we probably could have landed another three or four but they did well to keep us out,” Barker said.
“There were a couple of balls that missed the bails by a couple of centimetres or fell short, so obviously you want a couple more when you have a few overs at them but to have then one down with not many runs on the board after 13 overs isn’t a bad result.”
If Sunbury are to snatch its first win of the season as they bowl at Ransford Oval next week, they will need to do the simple things right, Barker said.
“We just need to be disciplined, bowl good line and length, hold our catches and hopefully we’ll create the chances and hopefully get the job done,” he said.
