MT BEAUTY’S more balanced bowling attack will be a crucial point of difference as they look to improve on their surprise finals run of last season, captain Alistair Randell says.
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The fast bowling of recruit Jake Styles last week claimed four wickets against Barnawartha-Chiltern, while veteran Ashan Ranaweera is set to return this weekend against Baranduda.
While the Power will be without unavailable quick Luke Jones for their clash against the Rangers, Randell said the likes of Styles and Ranaweera would still be able to have an impact against last season’s minor premiers.
“It’s a big game this weekend, we’re expecting them to be there at the pointy end again,” he said.
“In the last few years, with the exception of Luke, we’ve had a pretty steady attack to work with.
“Jake brings a good amount of pace though, when we get Ashan and Luke in the side as well we’re probably a little more balanced.”
Their efforts in the field will be crucial against the potent batting line-up of the Rangers.
Paul Munro led all comers with the willow, scoring a tick over 100 extra runs (590) than his nearest competitor in the District competition, Dederang star Andrew Creamer (481).
They bat reasonably deep too, with the likes of Aiden Ryan and Vince Moran, among others, capable of hitting the scoreboard.
With this in mind, Randell said early wickets were an absolute must for the Power.
“Starting well in the field will be important, Rohan Pearce scored a hundred on us last year, and Paul Munro can score heavily as well,” he said.
“We had a solid win last week, it’s always hard to beat Barnawartha-Chiltern on their home deck.
“I don’t think we played our best, but the positive was the we fielded quite well, we only would have dropped one half-chance early on.
“It was a good start, but we do have plenty of work to do.”
Leading run-scorer Frank Iaria also returns for Mt Beauty this weekend.
Howlong will look to bounce back from a tough first outing when they come up against reigning premiers Kiewa.
The Spiders struggled with a difficult pitch in last week's loss to Bethanga, but should improve on their home track this weekend.
In other matches, the Miners face Bethanga, Eskdale will look to bounce back from last week's loss when they come up against Wodonga and the improved Yackandandah face off against Dederang.