Grand United young gun Micheal Giles despatches the bowling on Saturday. 71958 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
By Liam Twomey
A CONFIDENT Grand United is right where it wants to be after day one of its Williamstown and District Cricket Association clash against Newport Digman on Saturday.
Despite losing nine overs of play because of a rain delay, Grand United posted 9/270 from 71 overs to be in control of the match.
Coach Phil Crea said he was happy with how his team performed in its first two-day match of the year.
“Everything is going well with the club at the moment. All the signs are good at this stage of the season,” Crea said.
“We have the right balance of experience and young players in the team. When you take into account the rain delay, we lost about 40 minutes so we think that is a really good score.”
However, he was quick to point out that the win was not the only thing on the players’ minds this week.
Crea said his team would be hunting 20 wickets on Saturday and were keen to make their first two-day win of the season an outright victory.
“Next week we are looking to bowl them out twice. We believe with our attack, going in with the four quicks we will be able to do that,” Crea said.
“To be honest, I know Newport isn’t the same side as last year but I’ll be looking at our boys taking 20 wickets next week.”
Crea was also looking past the second day of Grand United’s clash with Newport, all the way to a WDCA premiership this season. He said his side had what it took to win it.
“We sat down after last year and went and got the players we needed,” Crea said.
“After coaching Grand Untied the first year I knew what we needed. It may sound cocky but we believe other sides are playing for second.
“The belief I have in this group is that they won’t lose a game this year.”
For Newport they will need to get 271 to secure the upset victory and keep their season on the right track.
