Cricket Shepparton Twenty20 grand final preview

By James Kleeman

Jan 25, 2022

Full face of the bat: Murchison's Mitch Rowney bunts one back down the pitch against Karramomus in Cricket Shepparton’s T20 series, which will culminate with five finals matches today. Photo by Megan Fisher

Cricketers will descend on Mooroopna Recreation Reserve on Wednesday, intent on hitting a few out of the screws in what will be a frenzied day of Twenty20 grand final cricket.

The scoreboard will be working overtime when Central Park-St Brendan’s and Northerners go head-to-head on Mooroopna’s main deck at 2.30pm, with two of the region’s heavyweights set to pull no punches.

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Both sides are coming off tough losses in Haisman Shield action and will be keen to make amends and let off some steam in the 20-over format.

Northerners coach Steve Allen says the grand final will serve as a good opportunity for his Jets to regather some form at this stage of the season.

“Obviously we’re coming off a couple of Haisman losses, so we’re not up and about as much as one would hope to be in this part of the year,” Allen said.

“It does give us an opportunity to bounce back; I’m sure everyone is keen to get into it and I know the mood will be upbeat, they’ll enjoy the chance to play in a final and hopefully produce a win.”

Allen revealed his squad would be close to full strength, boasting some of the competition’s biggest hitters, including Mitch Brett — who whacked a sublime T20 ton earlier this season.

“We’ll have our strongest side in which is a positive,” he said.

“We’ve had some good results (with T20), our blokes have batted well up the top and hopefully with a positive intent we can be competitive against Central Park.”

In somewhat bizarre fashion, Central Park-St Brendan’s has slid through to the finals without playing a game through no fault of its own.

A washout in round one was followed with a bye in round two and an opposition forfeit last week.

The Tigers’ playing coach Tyler Larkin will approach this fixture with the same mindset that his charges have had throughout their dominant Haisman Shield season.

“That’s just how the cookie crumbles; we haven’t had any T20 game time, but we’re still pretty prepared to take it up to Northerners,” Larkin said.

The flag fancy Tigers were stunned last time out, going down to Waaia in a thrilling Haisman Shield contest.

Larkin says the loss could be exactly what the doctor ordered at this stage of their campaign.

“We didn’t really dissect our loss too much, it can be a good thing and a bit of a shot in the arm, you’d rather have a loss now than right near finals,” he said.

“We’re expecting a big bounce back this week, both tomorrow and then on Saturday.”

In the morning slot, Mooroopna will take on Central Park-St Brendan’s in the B-grade finals bout at 11am, with both sides looking to flex their batting muscle which has propelled them to the big dance.

Invergordon will encounter Murchison in the C-grade final at 2.30pm on John Gray Oval, right after the D-grade final is decided between Pine Lodge and Old Students, with that match set to start at 11am.

Meanwhile, a spectacle is sure to unfold at Pee Wee Young Oval, where Mooroopna will meet Tatura in the E-grade final.