OPENING weekend of the Williamstown and District Cricket Association A1 turf grand final was far from decisive.
Wyndhamvale has taken a slight edge over minor premiers Williamstown Imperials at the Bryan Martyn Oval in Newport, but six days is a long time in a game of cricket.
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“We’re pretty happy with our position,” Falcons all-rounder Ryan Radford said. “We’ve got a 100 lead, you’d take that. There’s still a lot of cricket to be played.”
The Falcons were content with 244 off 87.2 overs. Nothing flashy, but not a total to sneeze at.
The Imperials were posing the question in the lead-up to the grand final: Who is Andrew Ford?
They never got the chance to bowl to the English import during the regular season, but they were forced to make up for that on Saturday.
“They are probably sick of him already,” Radford joked.
Ford went on to make a superb 112 to be the biggest factor on the first weekend. The opening batsman held the innings together from start to finish in extreme weather conditions.
“Being from England, he wouldn’t have been used to those hot conditions,” Radford said.
“He was very patient, waited for his ball and I don’t think he gave them a chance. It was one of the best innings I’ve seen.”
Spinner Glen Robson was the pick of the Imperials bowlers with 3-46 off 19 overs, including six maidens. Jack Haines, with 1-40 off 17.2, got Ford.
The Imperials, led by Daniel Slattery (33), Ashley Royston (26) and Robson (23), stuttered to 8-147 at stumps with Jake Styles (3-33) and Lance Macdougall (3-35) brilliant.
