HOPPERS Crossing is surprisingly unperturbed about the mountain of runs it has to chase in order to beat Old Mentonians in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division when play resumes at Hogans Road Oval on Saturday.
The Cats are staring at the 346 target for victory as one that will present a challenge, but not insurmountable.
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You have to wonder why a side averaging 204 per 11 wickets would be so confident?
Cats president Steve McNamara told the Weekly the scorecard might look daunting in print, but unique conditions at Hogans Road would make it an entertaining finish.
“What accentuated it a bit was Hogans Road Oval has a big cage around it,” he said.
“The council, in their wisdom, have decided to put a new fence around the No.1 oval, so they’ve put construction fences between the outside of where the old fence was and 10 metres inside the new one.
“The boundaries are fairly short at the moment with a 10-metre exclusion zone around the whole perimeter of the oval and the outfield is lightning quick.
“Anything that goes through the infield is four.”
The keys for the Cats are simple: build partnerships and see out the full 80 overs.
“We’ve just got to bat well and absolutely bat 80 overs,” McNamara said.
“If you bat the 80, you will get the runs with the ground the way it is at the moment.
“The ball is in the boys’ court. If they want to play finals desperately enough, they will have to acquit themselves well.”
The Cats will have to do it without one of their top batsmen, Michael Tubb, who is out with a knee injury.
Will Gardner is also under an injury cloud but will bat.
With the Mentone side sitting in fourth and the Cats marginally behind in fifth, neither side will want to give up ground on Saturday.
“It’s a double-point game,” McNamara said.
“Whichever side wins it gets a nice break.
“Our guys know it’s a really important game after dropping the two previous.
“You drop three in a row and you’re starting to struggle to maintain pace with the top four.”
VTCA SCORES
Senior division: Hoppers Crossing v Old Mentonians 9-345
West B1: Sunshine YCW 6-49 (AK Edrich 4-8 S Crea 2-26) v Werribee Centrals 201 (S Crea 40 D Cachia 30 L Simpson 28); Barkly Street Uniting 4-58 (T Semmens 3-20) v Point Cook 144 (T Semmens 41)
