Altona will be desperate to re-group after finishing the opening week of cricket’s under-15 JC Craig Shield on the bottom of the ladder and without a notch in the wins column.
The A’s were on the wrong end of a number of lopsided scorelines with heavy losses coming against top-four clubs Werribee, Williamstown and Yarraville.
The bright spot for the A’s is having two bowlers – Daniel Reed-Sharry (six wickets) and Cooper Mitchell (five) – in the competition’s top 10.
There were no such worries for Yarraville, which handed out a severe 143-run thrashing to the A’s in the third round.
The Eagles are one of two undefeated clubs, are sitting third on the ladder and have a game in hand as one of the clubs scheduled a bye in week one.
Eagles opener Mali Pereira has the highest individual score of the west group so far with a superb 99 against the A’s on Sunday.
Billy Koziaris has been getting the job done with the ball for the Eagles, snaring seven wickets at a scroogy average of 3.14. He took 6-20 off nine overs against the A’s on Sunday.
Williamstown is at the crossroads after two wins and two losses in the opening week.
The Seagulls batting has left a lot to be desired, but the bowlers have impressed.
Three eagles are in the top 15 for wickets – including Wally Christie (six), Mitchell Coleman (five) and Finn Turnbull (four).
Aaron Cheesley was one of only five west group players to record half centuries in week one when he smashed 51 against Altona.
The group stage wraps up this week with matches played yesterday, today and tomorrow.
The quarter finals will be played on Tuesday with the semi finals (January 22) and final (January 25) to follow.
Meanwhile, all local senior turf cricket clubs had their games abandoned on Saturday due to bad weather leading into last weekend.
