Harper Sercombe
Footscray was unable to get off the back foot in its Victorian Premier Cricket two-day clash against Northcote.
The Bulldogs lost the toss and were sent to the field last Saturday. However it was tough going with opening batsman Jonty Rushton making 126, helping the Dragons to 6-358 at the conclusion of their 90 overs.
Chasing the big total was always going to be tough for the young Bulldogs outfit, however they got off to a flying start, thanks to opening batsmen Aiman Nadeem and skipper Dylan Brasher.
While it was slow going, Brasher made 61, followed by Nadeem with 59. After Brasher fell in the 38th over the Bulldogs found it tough to get a strong partnership going.
Coach Dale McDonald said the opening stand was the inning’s silver lining.
“We had a really good start, another 100 run opening partnership so that was a positive out of what was not a good day in the end,” he said.
New recruit Max Hatzoglou impressed in his first knock for his new club, making 44 not out.
“It was really pleasing to see Max come across from Melbourne University and I knew that he would be able to bat in any sort of situation, so it was pleasing for him to get 44 not out,” McDonald said.
“He transferred across from Melbourne Uni two weeks ago and he’ll play a pretty important role at the club whether it be in the first or seconds, we’re not sure at this stage because Dylan Kight will be due back this week.
“So that will certainly make it hard for selection… we’d be definitely happy to play both of them, should we see that the spots there.”
McDonald said inexperience in his side’s middle order was just one of the reasons the chase was unsuccessful.
“When we had such a good start, to then lose 10 for 104 is not ideal,” he said.
“And losing wickets in clumps, just through poor decision making, experience makes a big difference but at the end of the day when you’ve got a good skill set it comes down to decision making.
“You can only really gain experience from playing more first XI games and being exposed but it was just some poor shots to be honest.”
Footscray plays the winless, reigning premiers Melbourne next weekend in a two day, Saturday-Sunday.
“It’ll be a really good contest, both teams on their day can make really good runs and bowl really well, so we’ll just need to make sure the difference between our best and our worst is a lot smaller,” McDonald said.
