James Murphy
THE 2023-24 Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association senior premiers have been crowned.
It is typical of this time of year as summer sport wraps up, however this season the sliverware was obtained in a unique fashion.
Due to the weekend’s heat wave, play was cancelled under the heat policy on both Saturday and Sunday as well as Monday, which was designated as a back-up day to account for weather interruptions.
That put the league in a tricky situation and despite altering the format of play to account for the conditions, the weather did not ease up.
As such the top-ranked team in the grand final claimed the premiership based on ladder position.
West Gambier has secured the A Grade Barber Shield and in doing so broke a 42-year premiership drought.
Captain of the side Bray Stephenson spoke to The Border Watch following the shield presentation and addressed the circumstances of the win.
“It is what it is,” he said.
“We wanted to play, we didn’t want to win it like this, but we deserve it and we definitely aren’t going to hand it back.”
The Roos were the toast of the minor round season and finished up with just one loss from their 10 outings.
There was no shortage of depth in the lineup and every man was able to step up when required.
“We didn’t just fall into the top spot, we were 20 points clear on top,” Stephenson said.
“No one really got close to us in a two-day game of cricket and that is the type of cricket we thrive to play our best at.”
West fell agonisingly short of breaking its premiership drought last season, but ultimately went down to East Gambier.
This year the Roos were in even better form and entered grand final weekend coming off some impressive performances.
Stephenson said they were all in peak condition and ready to play it out in the big dance against North Sportsman’s, but it was not to be.
Regardless, the drought was broken and history was made for the club.
“I have been playing A Grade for 20 years at West and this would have been our fourth (grand final) appearance,” Stephenson said.
“We came close last year and I think in 2015 against South when they were in their prime we fell about 20 runs short and we got done pretty easily against North.
“This was definitely going to be our best crack at it and we knew whoever we came up against we were not losing this two years in a row.”
Reflecting on the season that was, Stephenson noted a few recent highlights.
Sam Willis was one standout and he had an impressive year, taking home the Association A Grade best player award at last week’s presentations.
“He has had a really good year with bat and ball,” Stephenson said.
“He has been really damaging and definitely a player we know we can rely on every week.”
Other highlights included an impressive semi-final performance against Mil Lel, where the tail order stood tall with the bat and prevented a possible upset.
“Sujith Nikethana scoring his first 100 (114) for the club and Jack Geddes batting with him making 49 – that sort of knock, I have never seen something like that happen with the eight and ninth batsmen in the time I’ve been playing,” Stephenson said.
“Then just the fact we have had a few games where we sort of looked like we might have been out of it, but whether it was with bat or ball we have clawed our way back in.
“For first innings in the Barber Shield we are averaging around 250 (runs) and we have the bowlers to back it up.”
The Roos will undoubtedly have celebrated their successful season in style, while it will be back to the drawing board for their rivals for the 2024-25 campaign.
The B Grade Crouch Shield was won by Gambier Centrals, whose journey to the grand final was an even more unique experience.
Finishing second after the minor rounds, a semi-final meeting with third-placed Mil Lel was abandoned due to a medical episode from a Mil Lel player.
That saw ladder position come into play and Centrals progressed.
The other semi final had ladder-leader Kongorong go down to Penola in a shock result, which left Centrals as the highest ranking team in the big dance.
Their season was a successful one, with only two losses for the year and while not being able to prove it on grand final day, they finished on top of the competition.
In C Grade the Cox Bros Shield was secured by Yahl who finished undisputedly at the top of the competition with an undefeated record for 2023-24.
They impressed in the semi-final against Glencoe and easily chased down the Murphies in the 38th over of the 80-over fixture.
The other semi-final had second-placed Tarpeena put in a solid 253-run effort to knock out Gambier Centrals.
They would have met Yahl in the decider in the only battle between one and two, but the powers that be ruled the weekend as a non-event and Yahl secured the silverware.
All shields were presented at Frew Park on Monday at a presentation ceremony.
