It’s a good thing that Yarraville captain-coach Matthew Love has a good sense of humour.
Love could see the funny side of a miscalculation that robbed him of a century against Preston in Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-west first XI at Yarraville Oval on Saturday.
Love thought he brought up the magical triple figures just before rain stopped played on the second day of an enthralling contest after his teammates gave him a standing ovation.
He even went through the ritual of raising his bat to his applauding teammates.
Then the thunder and lightning crashed in, followed by rain – and a ball later, play was abandoned at a crucial moment in the match.
Love returned to the dressing room to realise he was only on 99 and his teammates had calculated his score incorrectly.
“I’ve never celebrated 100 before and then [I] realised it wasn’t,” said Love with a laugh. “There was a big clap and applause for the ton. There was only another ball left after that, so I defended that because I knew we’d be going off for the rain, thunder and lightning.
“When I got off the ground, they were like, you actually only made 99. It was a bit flattening, but like one of the guys said, it will be something to laugh at in the future.”
It was not only Love who was robbed.
The spectators missed out on what promised to be a thrilling finish to the match.
Preston played its part on day one, posting an imposing 6-302 off 80 overs.
But Yarraville showed its batting strength on the second day, racing to 1-193 off 51 overs.
The Eagles lost seven overs to rain early in the day, but still would have had 22 overs late in the day to pick off the 110 runs required with nine wickets in hand.
“That was the most disappointing part – not getting the chance to get to the target and notch up a win,” Love said.
“The game was still sort of in the balance, because we lost seven overs with the first rain delay.
“It was turning out to be a cracker of a game, so it was disappointing not to get a result, but there’s definitely positive signs.”
David Morgan posted his best score for the season with 47, while youngster Joe Billings continued his consistent form with 37 not out.
“We’re playing positive enough cricket, but we just need to get a couple of wins on the board in a row and set ourselves up for a launch after the Christmas break,” Love said.
Yarraville will travel to Hoppers Crossing for a two-day game starting on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Williamstown had to share the points with a plucky Taylors Lakes after rain forced the abandonment of play on day two at the Williamstown Cricket Ground.
The Seagulls were in the box seat after posting 304 and having Taylors Lakes in dire trouble on 9-152.
But the rain came at just the right time to snap the Seagulls’ three-game winning streak.
They will travel to Brunswick for a two-day top-two blockbuster starting on Saturday.
There was no play between Altona and Hoppers Crossing on the second day, with the teams sharing the points.
