AGE is irrelevant, lack of years no barrier: exciting young all-rounder Corey Irving is proof that youth can excel on the Williamstown and District Cricket Association A1 turf’s grandest stage.
West Newport has a wobbly Williamstown Imperials on the ropes after the opening weekend of the six-day grand final at Bryan Martyn Oval and it’s due mainly to the precociously talented teenager.
Should the Bulls make use of their healthy early advantage and charge to a second flag in three years, the historians will surely trace it back to the mindblowing performance of Irving on days one and two.
On Saturday, the 18-year-old took the game by the scruff of the neck with 7-33 off 19 overs as the Imps limped to 142 in 56.2 overs.
Not content with his lot with the ball, Irving arrested his form slump with the bat to top-score with 48 in a total of 9-228 off 100 overs, giving the underdog Bulls a lead of 86 at stumps on Sunday.
Irving should be nicknamed “the difference” around the Bulls rooms this week. He’s the only thing separating the sides after the first two days.
Bulls player-coach Matt Shiell told the Weekly it was a show of maturity for Irving to produce so well in the pressure cooker of a final.
“He’s a big strong kid who can bowl fast,” he said. “We’ve been working on him getting to the next level with his bowling and to really use his brain.
“You don’t take seven wickets in a grand final if you don’t use what’s upstairs. He was absolutely phenomenal.”
While raw, Irving is no stranger to the big stage of an A1 turf decider.
The new-ball operator has already featured in three grand finals, all in the past three seasons.
He relishes the madness of March, standing out with his output in each of the deciders.
This summer, Irving has been the focal point around which the Bulls have built their team. He responded with 44 wickets at 10.
The Bulls had plenty of contributions with the bat to assist Irving, who “set the tone”.
Trent Jones made a crucial 39 from the middle order, the ever-reliable Christian Elliott posted 32 and Shiell contributed 27.
Jones and Shiell got together when the Bulls were looking shaky on 5-60 and built an innings-defining 65-run stand.
That was followed by a 70-run partnership from Irving and Shiell which sapped a bit of energy from the Imps bowlers.
But the most intriguing partnership came late on Sunday when Peter MacDonald (30 not out) combined with No.11 Nathan Jones to see off the last nine overs and keep the Bulls innings alive heading into Saturday.
While the scorecard points to the Bulls holding all the aces heading into the all-important third day, Shiell refused to say his side had a significant hold on the game.
He used the 2009-10 grand final as a prime example when the Bulls trailed Grand United by 87 runs on first innings and went on to win.
You won’t see the Imperials waving the white flag. They have waited too long for a chance to capture their first A1 turf flag since 1992-93 to throw it away. “If we can bat well enough next week and get a lead, there’s always pressure chasing a score in a grand final,” Slattery said
Overseas import Owen Alsop was the standout for the Imps on the first weekend. The all-rounder made 42 in the middle order and took a miserly 4-70 off 35 overs.
Slattery made 38 at the head of the order and Paul Hudson chimed in with 2-45 off 24 overs.
WDCA GRAND FINALS
Day 1 and 2
A1 turf: Williamstown Imperials 142 (O Alsop 42 D Slattery 38) v West Newport 9-228 (O Alsop 4-70 P Hudson 2-45).
A2 turf: Footscray ANA 244 (D Veteha 45 N Lawriw 39 SA Kukucka 35 J Hines 33 J Wills 29) v Melton Centrals 3-82 (J Wills 2-17).
B1 turf: Grand United 7-185 (B Bennett 2-11 L Gretgrix 2-12) v West Newport.
B2 turf: Melton South 70 v Melton Centrals 226 (D Cooper 3-27 T Batten 3-50 M Garwood 2-42) and 9/106 (M Truswell 3-11 G Parker 2-18 M Garwood 2-18).
C composite: Grand United 358 (A Farrier 5-60 P Cambasis 3-63) v Point Cook 1-15.
B grade matting: Tarneit 5-259 (D Sharma 102no C Kavanagh 52 S Singh 39 K Singh 30no) v Melton Centrals 242 (R Pallath 5-51 MS Buttar 2-40).
C grade matting: Wyndhamvale 226 (J Campion 44 C Plummer 42 DG McCarthy 37) v Tarneit 4-73.
The third and fourth days of the grand finals will be played this Saturday and Sunday.
