Tara Murray
The future is bright for Footscray Cricket Club.
One of the powerhouses in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition, the Bulldogs young talent is starting to come through.
The club’s under-17 Dowling Shield side made the grand final of that competition, after a successful campaign.
While the side lost the grand final to Ringwood, coach Dervis Duradbegovic was thrilled with how the side went.
“The result at this level of competition is the end game,” he said. “It’s more important about the experience for the boys.”
Being part of the Premier cricket set up for a second year, the competition went from under-16s to under-17s.
It meant that most of the group was able to come back and be part of the program for another 12 months.
Duradbegovic said they added a couple of players this season, but the majority of the group was the same.
“Last year there were no finals and we just played round fixtures,” he said. “We dominated and lost just one game, winning the other games quite comfortably.”
Duradbegovic said Footscray and Ringwood had similar setups in terms of recruiting and development and he had expected a good match heading into it.
Ringwood batted first making 9-254, the first time the Bulldogs had conceded more than 200 runs for the competition.
Liam Mason and Aidan Brasher took three wickets each for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs pushed the game deep and were sitting at 2-190, before losing late wickets to be bowled out for 236 on the final ball.
Duradbegovic said a couple of flat spots with both the bat and ball that proved costly.
The star for the Bulldogs during the final was captain Mitchell Jamieson, who made 115.
Jamieson topped the batting for the carnival with two 100s and three 50s in six innings.
Duradbegovic said Jamieson, who made his first XI debut for Footscray this season, was a special talent.
“He has a wow factor,” he said.
“He’s a 16-17 year-old, but it’s like he’s been playing for a lot longer. He’s close to the best I’ve seen.
“He’s outstanding with the bat and his leadership skills.”
Josh Pace, who like Jamieson is from Keilor, scored the sixth most runs.
“Only losing 14 wickets over six games is unheard of,” Duradbegovic said. “Aiman Nadeem opened the batting and played really well, while Lachlan McArthur, who made 60 in the final, batted at four but only had two other hits.
The bowers also stood up with Duradbegovic highlighting Liam Mason, Muhammad Abdul Rafay and Arjun Sehrawat, who all finished in the top five wicket takers.
Duradbegovic said he was excited about what the future held for this group and the club.
“There is an exceptional group of 17-year-olds at the club,” he said. “We have four teams in finals, our junior program is really healthy.”
