With the one-day titles decided across the grades in ACT Premier Cricket in recent weeks, and the lower grade Twenty20 Finals run and won at EPC Solar Park in Phillip last weekend, attention now turns to the top grades who play out their deciders at Manuka Oval this Sunday.
The Women’s Glenda Hall Shield Grand Final will see a repeat of last season’s decider, with Western District looking for a second straight title, while Eastlake will be looking to get one back after last summer’s loss. That game gets underway at 4pm.
Here’s how the respective captains see the contest:
Claire Russell (Wests captain) “We’re actually not feeling the pressure, I think we’re just excited to get out there. It gives us confidence knowing we’ve done it before, but the team’s changed slightly since last year, so we’re hoping we can just have some fun and get the job done on the day.”
“There is a nice little rivalry with Eastlake. We tend to find ourselves playing each other in the finals quite a lot, which speaks to the calibre of both teams, and I think it’s going to be a good competition no matter happens, wo we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”
Carli Eaton (Eastlake captain) “Hopefully we can get one back on Wests, but we’re just really excited to be out here on Sunday and playing at such a fantastic venue. The team’s really excited, we’re had about half the team turnover from last season, so we’re looking forward to all getting out here and having a great go.”
“We’ve got to beat Wests in the field, so really tight fielding, everything’s really going to run out here, making sure we’re getting behind the ball and really putting the pressure on in the field will help get us there.”
The Men’s 1st Grade Greg Chappell Cricket Centre T20 Blast Grand Final will be played under lights from 7.20pm, featuring the winners of the two semi-finals to be played earlier in the day.
The positioning for the semi-finals means we could see both a repeat of last season’s thrilling decider between Tuggeranong and North Canberra Gungahlin, or of this season’s John Gallop Cup one-day Final between Queanbeyan and Weston Creek-Molonglo.
We put the same two questions to the teams, with some interesting responses coming back.
How do you win through to Sunday night’s Final?
Sam Myburgh (Weston Creek-Molonglo, playing T20 Premiers Tuggeranong in Semi-Final 1)
“I think we just have to trust our basics. We’ve been a good side for a few years, so if we can get out there and get into the contest, and really make sure we get ourselves involved, and then just take is as deep and as long as we can, and just play our style of cricket.”
Tom Henry (North Canberra Gungahlin, playing Queanbeyan in Semi-Final 2)
“We need to start really well with both and ball, that’s where we’re really relying on our top four and our opening bowlers to get us off to a reasonable start.
“If we can do that, we’ll be every chance of being competitive in both games and going Queanbeyan and whoever wins the other semi-final. We want to do all the little things well, and especially on a nice surface like Manuka Oval.”
Mark Solway (Queanbeyan)
“In Twenty20, it’s always the case that the powerplays are the big part of the game, and I think even more so against Norths this week.
“They’ve got a lot of big hitters up in the top order there who like to go hard at it in the powerplay, so hopefully we can get the big hitters out early.”
Aside from your team, who is the favourite for the T20 title?
Sam Myburgh (WCM): “I think it has to be Queanbeyan, they’ve got plenty of good white ball players, and good cricketers, and I think we’ll see them.”
Tom Henry (NCG): “I think Queanbeyan are the team to beat.”
Mark Solway (Queanbeyan): “They keep saying you’ve got to lose one to win one, so I guess Norths are probably due.”
The full schedule of matches for Sunday is as follows:
- 9.00am Men’s SF1 – Tuggeranong v Weston Creek-Molonglo
- 12.30pm Men’s SF2 – Queanbeyan v North Canberra Gungahlin
- 4.00pm Women’s Glenda Hall Shield Grand Final – Western District v Eastlake
- 7.20pm Men’s Greg Chappell Cricket Centre T20 Blast Grand Final
Reigning Greg Chappell Cricket Centre T20 Blast Premiers Tuggeranong were unavailable for Friday’s Grand Final preview.
Artice written by Brett McKay