Bellbridge will not get a better chance to close the gap on the VTCA west A1 top four this summer.
The Bears are behind the eight-ball, sitting seventh on the ladder and 15 points in arrears of fourth-placed Seabrook Saints, but they can kill two birds with one stone on Saturday.
Not only can the Bears eat into the points deficit, but they can halt the Saints’ progress at the same time.
Bellbridge opening bowler Mark Croswell fears if his side does not beat Seabrook on Saturday, it could be curtains for their finals’ aspirations, even at this early stage.
The Bears are in the box seat, requiring 156 runs for victory when the second day’s play commences at Mossfiel Reserve.
“If we don’t make the runs, we’re done and dusted for the year … that’s finals done,” Croswell said.
“There will be no point looking on the horizon then, it’ll be pretty much season over.”
Bellbridge not only has it all to play for in terms of the season, it wants to give 300-gamer Scott Walker a milestone to remember.
Walker has been involved with the Bears since its inception and is one of the hardest working volunteers at the club.
And he is the first Bears’ player to reach 300 games.
“He’s one of the club icons,” Croswell said.
“He’s been our curator since we started here at Mossfiel, looking after our turf wicket.
“We wanted to make sure we gave it a good and sustained effort today, to show some reward to a guy who has been around since the inception of the club.”
Bellbridge players certainly gave it their all for Walker on Saturday.
The Bears dismissed Seabrook for 155 as their bowlers produced the goods, and they were backed up in the field with seven of the dismissals being catches. At one stage, the Bears had the visitors in all sorts of trouble on 8-90, but Saints tail-wagged to produce a competitive total.
This was a little deflating for the Bears, but they would have taken a score of around 150 to chase before the day’s play.
“There was just that one partnership right at the end,” Croswell lamented.
“They’re a top-four side and they’ve shown, at the moment, that they’re one of the top teams to beat.
“Considering that we bowled pretty well, we fielded well, probably dropped one or two catches … now we’ve got to get to work with the bat.”
Amit Patel had the best figures for Bellbridge with 3-26 off 17 overs, while Patrick Lee was not too far behind with 3-40 off 18.
Shahbaz Anwar was elevated to the ones after some impressive second XI performances and did not disappoint, with 2-33 off 12.
