Altona may have kicked off its Victorian Sub District Cricket season with a loss at the weekend, but the club is viewing it as the first of many steps towards competing at the top end again.
While Altona’s new look and youthful side struggled to contain Elsternwick’s batters in a one-dayer on Saturday, coach Craig Swan said this year was seen by the club as a rebuilding year and it would have to deal with some fluctuations in performance.
“I personally see this team as a 16 to 17-game plan to bed down what we want, which is obviously more than a season but it’s about understanding this young playing group,” Swan said.
“We didn’t execute our bowling plans too well, and our fielding lacked a bit of intensity, so we were probably chasing 35 to 40 runs more than we would have liked. And with a young side that always makes it tough.
“On the whole there’s lots of things to take away and learn from, finding ways to resurrect our game as it starts to slip away, but I think there were some positive signs for the season.”
After winning the toss and sending the Wicks in to bat, Altona struggled to find the right lines and lengths with the ball as the visitors made full use of a short boundary to one side of the pitch.
Jeremy Swan (2-38) grabbed the first wicket, but the next four Elsternwick batsmen all got healthy runs at a good strike rate to keep the pressure on the home bowlers.
Stefan Sidari was the only other bowler to take a wicket for Altona picking up 2-44, as Elsternwick posted 5-211 from its 45 overs.
In reply, Altona got off to a steady start through experienced pair Greg Sheehan and David Kinsella, but struggled to keep up with the required run rate as the Wicks bowlers held to strong lines and cut off every run in the field.
Altona would go on to lose wickets in clumps throughout the afternoon, and despite a gutsy 38 not out from Daniel Mackenzie it was eventually dismissed for 129 with five overs to spare.
Swan said while it is never good to drop the opening game, he was confident of some better results in coming games.
“We know we’ve got the talent there, it’s about harnessing that and getting the best out of it,” he said.
“We’ve lost about 700 runs from our batting order from last year, so a lot of this year is getting games into people and working on the mental side of the game to implement structures that will bring success down the track.”
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