IT might not have been an intimidating score in summers past, but Footscray Edgewater is confident that 262 can get the job done against Carlton under the new 90-over-a-day Premier Cricket formula.
Cricket Victoria opted to shorten its club games from 100 to 90 overs in a day this season and Bulldogs president Geoff Collinson said the 10 fewer overs needed to be taken into account when evaluating day one totals.
“You’ve got to recalibrate your thinking about what’s a good score.”
The Bulldogs were faced with a difficult afternoon to bat.
There were clouds in the sky to help the bowlers, the grass in the outfield was longer than usual, and Princes Park’s big radius made it a tough ground for scoring boundaries.
The Dogs could muster only 19 boundaries for the day.
“With the rain we’ve had, the wickets weren’t at their best in most of the grounds around Melbourne,” Collinson said.
There is a steely resolve about this breed of Bulldog. They’re willing to make the best of a bad situation.
If the rope is out of reach, why not run four? They did so twice.
Of course, it’s always easier to produce a commanding total when your openers are in form.
Dean Russ stole the headlines for his back-to-back tons.
This time he produced just 12, but his partner-in-crime Wes Robinson stepped up.
Robinson is a validation of what the Bulldogs expected when they signed the former first-class player from WA.
The 31-year-old brought up his third consecutive half century and fell just seven short of a maiden Premier Cricket ton.
Collinson was happy with opening day. “It was a really good effort and we definitely think we’ve got our noses in front,” he said.
PREMIER CRICKET RESULTS
Firsts: Carlton v Footscray Edgewater 262 (WM Robinson 92 B Green 57 A Barton 27 T Dean 25)
Seconds: Footscray Edgewater 222 (J Freeman 81 G Walker 34 M Hill 26) v Carlton 0-11
Thirds: Carlton 124 (J King 4-59 B Ross 3-32) v Footscray Edgewater 5-35
Fourths: Footscray Edgewater 173 (J O’Grady 51 S King 34) v Carlton 0-4
