WERRIBEE Centrals were denied the chance of an outright result by what its player-coach Phil Crea described as a “negative” St Andrews approach to play on day two in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association west B.
The Centurions fell over the line by eight runs in the chase for first-innings points on the opening day at Pennell Reserve and had its sights set on maximum points when play resumed on Saturday.
The Saints took a more guarded approach, accumulating at a touch over two an over and reaching 7-132 before the declaration came with just 18 overs left in the day.
“Full credit to them, they batted well and didn’t take too many chances,” Crea told the Weekly. “If anything, I thought they played a bit negatively.
“Once you lose the game on first innings, you’ve got nothing to lose. You roll the dice and make a game of it, but they were obviously happy with what they did.”
The Centurions were left with 125 to get from 108 balls. The tourists put their best foot forward with a helter-skelter start. That led to four quick wickets with just 43 on the board and it was quickly abandoned.
“I said to the boys at the start, we’ll have a crack at it,” Crea said. “We’re here to get results and the only way you get results is to play positive cricket.
“Some weeks it’s going to work, some weeks it’s not. But that’s the way we want to approach it.
“When we lost four quick wickets, we weren’t going to make the runs.”
The Centurions shut up shop with Dean Giarruso (35no) and Mark Nankervis (19no) surviving to stumps, falling 35 runs short of an outright win.
Aside from the first-up win, the Centurions can take plenty out of their first outing of the summer.
With new-found reliability with their slow-bowling options, the Centurions have added variety to one of the already feared attacks.
“If we can’t get wickets with the pace, we’ll go with the spin,” Crea said. “It’s a good option for a captain to have.”
The Centurions will make the short trip to Seabrook for a third round two-day game starting Saturday.
