Little River’s wake-up call from Shelford came down like a sledgehammer in Geelong Cricket Association’s division 3 at Little River Reserve on Saturday.
Redbacks player-coach Nathan Kenyon was livid with the careless batting performance put on by his men as they flirted with a humiliating outright defeat.
Chasing 211 for victory, the Redbacks were embarrassed to be bowled out for 85 in their first dig and fare only slightly better with 7-130 in the second.
Kenyon was furious after the game.
“It’s a lot more than unacceptable,” he said. “For the side that we’ve got, to put that out is nothing short of disgusting.”
The Redbacks feel they have a side that should be challenging at the pointy end this summer.
A continuation of the inconsistent showings thus far will render such hopes a pipedream.
That much was pointed out in a of the shellacking from Shelford. during an emergency team meeting in the aftermath.
“We had an in-house meeting after the game and had a fair talk about it and a lot of us got a big wake-up call,” Kenyon said.
“The talent we’ve got in our side, in my mind there was no doubt we could chase down 200. I thought we should chase it no worries, but the false shots killed us.
“We’re looking at 12 dismissals through wrong shots – trying to force something that wasn’t there. It’s not good batting.”
The Redbacks will play catch-up with the rest of the contenders and have a tough run before the Christmas break.
Respite should come against struggling side North Shore in a two-dayer starting on Saturday.
Kenyon believes the match is an opportunity to make up for lost ground.
“I’ve really put it on the boys today that next game I’m not going to take anything less than an outright win,” he said. “They’ve been pumped their first few games and today was the first two-dayer and they got done quite convincingly.
“If we’re going to be playing in finals or even heading that way, we’ve got to take nothing less than an outright because after that we come into Meredith and some really strong teams.”
