Orbost Cricket Club will be looking for a start with similar momentum to the commencement of the 2025/26 Bairnsdale Cricket Association (BCA) “A” grade season, when local cricket gets back underway after the festive break.
The Blues won their first four games, impressively beating West Bairnsdale, Paynesville, St Mary’s Nagle and Lakes Entrance before a lack of momentum stalled their season.
They were outplayed by Wy Yung in round five, encountered a washout and a bye, before being no match for Lindenow South Glenaladale in round eight.
Weather again intervened in round nine, before another bye, before working into a strong position in the final match before the break,
only for rain to cruel the match.
In a competitive season Orbost sit third, behind the Bulls and Tigers, who have worked clear of the pack.
The Blues are on the same points as fourth-placed Lucknow, two points ahead of West Bairnsdale, four points in front of Lakes Entrance, with Paynesville a further two points back.
St Mary’s Nagle and Meerlieu are too far back to challenge this season.
With five rounds remaining, the Blues are well placed to play finals, with this week’s Saturday/Sunday fixture against Wy Yung at home the beginning of a huge nine days of cricket that will decide their fate.
The final five rounds are made up of four two-day fixtures and a one-dayer.
After this weekend, the Blues will take on Lucknow (away) in the limited overs fixture, followed by West Bairnsdale (away), Meerlieu (home) and Lakes Entrance (away).
This week’s opponent, Wy Yung are in sublime form, unbeaten through November/December, with numerous options with both bat and ball, their game ideally suited to the magnificent Orbost Recreation Reserve.
Their big wicket is Cameron McPhan who has belted two centuries already this season and he gets good support from Todd Murray, Daniel Gledhill, Ben Saxon, Ray Stevens, Guriqbal Singh and the emerging Harry Forbes.
They have quality bowlers like Damian Vicary, skipper Stephen Bertino, Darcy Murray, Sean Phillipson and spinner Charlie Thompson.
But the Blues won’t be daunted – they have plenty of talent at their disposal and if they get it right an upset is possible.
Import Luke Humphries leads an exciting batting line-up that contains Jayden Price, Mikael Hulme, Luke Endley, skipper Curtley Farley, Alfie Lindsay, Joshua Court, Nicholas Hulme and Tim Osborn, who are all capable of getting among the runs.
Their bowling probably isn’t as strong as their opponent’s, but it’s steady and most matches at Orbost are decided by the batters, not the bowlers.
In “B” grade, Orbost will trek to Bairnsdale to take on West Bairnsdale at the Bairnsdale City Oval.
