Footscray is hoping to end its promising Victorian Premier Cricket season with a bang and finds itself in a good position to do so after day one against Casey South Melbourne.
On Saturday, the Dogs were sent in to bat and after a shaky start with two of their best batsmen falling early. It was left to young guns Aiman Nadeem (93) and Mitch Jamieson (45) who piled on a strong 120 run partnership to get the innings back on track.
“I’m pretty happy with where we ended up, it wasn’t looking too good at the start when we were 2-27,” coach Dale McDonald said.
“They’re definitely the players of the future for our club so it was great for them to get in and have a good partnership together, under a bit of pressure obviously, then to be facing such a good attack as well which was really rewarding for them.
“Aiman batted really, really well. He was disappointed not to get the seven runs (for his 100) but then Mitch Jamieson was also disappointed not to get the five runs for his 50.
“At the end of the day it was great exposure and great experience for those two boys, I think we’ve definitely got a bright future there that’s for sure.”
After finishing on 7-279 after only 94 overs the Dogs have the option to bat out the remaining six overs on Saturday morning. With Dylan Kight (61*) and Jay Vine (26*) still at the crease McDonald said it’s something he will be contemplating throughout the week.
“It’s definitely something that we’ll consider,” he said.
“I’m not sure which way we will go at this stage but either way they’re going to try and chase the runs to get that second chance, so we’ll wait and see what the wicket is like.”
While mathematically finals is still a chance for the Dogs, even with a win their percentage will most likely restrict them from finishing in the eight. Regardless, McDonald said it has been a positive season for the club with a plethora of fresh faces coming through the ones while remaining a competitive outfit.
“That would be great if we could finish with a win,” he said.
“We’ve had 10 debutants this year in the first XI which is the first time since the club’s first season in district cricket in 1948-49. So to have 10 debutants play and for us to still be really competitive, albeit that we lost games that have hurt us in the end, it’s been a rewarding year and a year where there has been great development put into a number of players.”
