WARNING bells are ringing across the Victorian Turf Cricket Association west B1.
Werribee Centrals opening bowler Aaron Edrich has clicked into first gear and that’s bad news for batsmen across the competition.
Edrich, a former Melbourne district player, was at full steam on Saturday as he produced easily his best performance of the summer.
The speedster took 10 wickets for the match, including 7-12 off 11 overs in the first innings and 3-11 off nine in the second, as the Centurions slaughtered Sunshine YCW outright at Kinder Smith Reserve on Saturday.
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“He ended the match with 20 overs and 10 for 23 or something ridiculous like that,” Centurions batsman Chris Duffin told the Weekly.
“He really did show the competition that when he’s on song, there’s no better bowler in the competition.”
The Centurions have hardly missed a beat this summer.
They have won nine consecutive games to all but sew up the minor premiership.
Top billing in the finals is nice, but Duffin says it will mean little come March and improvement still needs to be made between now and the finals.
“Our aim was to remain undefeated. We wanted to win every game that we come out to play.
“To be able to do that so far, considering the situations we’ve had, like a close one in round one and a couple of games we’ve won in tight matches, it shows we’re going from strength to strength as a side.”
The Centurions eked out 201 in 63 overs on day one.
Still, 200 seems to be the magic number for the Centurions, the one their bowlers seem to have no trouble with defending.
“Any time we make 200, I’d back our bowlers to defend that,” Duffin said.
“Considering the way the pitch was, I think 200 was a really good score.”
YCW was bowled out for a mediocre 53 in their first dig.
They fared a little better in the second innings with 111. Teenage quick Nathan Johnson was the chief destroyer for the Centurions second time around with 6-31 off 10.
“He’s still only 17 years of age,” Duffin said. “He debuted two years ago and was seen as a project player.
“He’s really done his role this year, every time he’s handed the ball.
“All he’s needed to do is bowl a consistent line and length and that was the most important thing about his game.
“He stayed patient and forced false shots from the opposition.”
The Centurions will host Kingsville Baptists in their last home game of the regular season, starting Saturday.
VTCA
Senior division
Hoppers Crossing 266 (L Goegan 50 D Evans 47 C Henry 42 D Brown 36 A Jan 31 MJ Walker 6-64 D Stevens 2-51) lt Old Mentonians 9-345 (B Bisht 123 J Seeary 68no J Tolley 34) and 0-26
West B1
Barkly Street Uniting 112 (S Christensen 25 T Semmens 7-38 J Denton 2-22) lt Point Cook 144 (T Semmens 41 S Lucas 3-32) and 8-169 (K Raichura 52 D Groves 36 A Whear 25 S Lucas 3-35 D Williams 2-58); Sunshine YCW 53 (AK Edrich 7-12 S Crea 3-26) and 111 (D Grainger 39 N Johnson 6-31 AK Edrich 3-11) lt Werribee Centrals 201 (S Crea 40 D Cachia 30 L Simpson 28 F Unaid 3-31 MT Schwartz 3-44); Footscray ANA 309 (SA Kukucka 91 J Wills 60 D Nightingale 59 T Cooper 34no S Chakrabarty 3-41 R Youl 2-64) d Seabrook 180 (T Martin 3-28 D Stefanides 2-15 SA Kukucka 2-27)
