Friday, February 13th, 2015

Barnard Aiming To Help Queanbeyan Bolster Bid To Reach Semi-Finals

Barnard Aiming To Help Queanbeyan Bolster Bid To Reach Semi-Finals

Ed Barnard's side, Queanbeyan District, will look to step up their bid to qualify for the semi-finals of the ACT Cameron Douglas Cup when they visit Tuggeranong Valley for the opening day ofa two-day fixture tomorrow.

The Worcestershire all-rounder has played a leading role in Queanbeyan currently occupying joint second spot in the table with Western District UC on 22 points.

In the same competition, Joe Leach's club, North Canberra Gungahlin, will travel to take on Weston Creek Molonglo on day one.

The Northies have enjoyed a successful season but in the Cameron Douglas Cup are lying second from bottom with eight points from five matches.

County opener Richard Oliver's side, Geelong City, visit Leopold for the first day of their two day fixture in the Geelong Cricket Association Division One.

Geelong skipper Oliver has taken his side to the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages.

The top six go through and the Sharks are presently in third spot behind leaders East Belmont and North Geelong.

The top six will play each other on a 1st v 6th, 2nd v 5th and 3rd v 4th basis with the three winners progressing to the preliminary finals along with the highest placed loser.

Then the competition reverts to a straight knockout basis.

Oliver was pleased with his side's performance in the win over Lara.

He said: "Of course we were confident with 303 on the board, but we weren't expecting to come out on top so convincingly as we bundled them out for 132 in the 50th over.

"I called upon my three prong seam attack to step up as we played the extra batsman and they duly obliged, with Agg taking four wickets, Worthington three, and Marsland two, while I chipped in with a run-out.

"We caught well, fielded okay and were relentless with the ball, but there is still plenty of room for improvement moving forward to this week's game.

"Leopold sit second bottom of the ladder but they got into the finals last year and have had the wood over us in recent seasons. We have yet to beat them on their own turf since I have been at the Sharks.

"We are keen to turn that around as we strive to consolidate our position in the top three and take advantage, should East Belmont or North Geelong slip up.

"They have the leading wicket taker in the division in Tim Marshall, who has 25 poles to his name, leading our own Kent Agg by one.

"There is also opening batsman Ben O'Brien who always seems to make a few runs against us. So we will be wary of the threat those two guys may pose to us tomorrow, as well as the potential for the conditions to play a part.

"As I write we are copping a pretty aggressive thunderstorm! It is forecast to set in for the night, but fingers crossed no damage is done to the grounds and we can get play underway on time and without interruption."

Worcestershire all-rounder Ross Whiteley's club, Prospect CC, visit West Torrens for a South Australian Cricket Association first grade clash.

Three county players will feature on the second day of their matches which got underway last weekend.

Ben Cox and Jack Shantry may have key roles to play with the bat for Greenvale Kangaroos who are 30-1 in reply to Monash Tigers 256 in the Victorian Premier Cricket Bartercard Men's Premier Firsts encounter.

Joe Clarke scored 140 out of 215 for South Perth on day one of their Western Australian Cricket Association first grade match with leaders Joondalup who will resume on 50-1.