Justin Flynn looks at what’s happened in BPCA A2 Grade and what’s to come.
Ladder
Club points percentage
Portarlington 39 2.04
Wallington 39 1.33
Inverleigh 37 1.48
Surf Coast 27 0.90
Collendina 21 0.93
Winchelsea 15 0.70
St Leonards 9 0.78
Newcomb 9 0.53
Portarlington
The Demons will miss father-son combination of Stephen and Riley Illingworth after the break. The family is moving to Tasmania and the duo has combined for 603 runs this season. Brenton Toole and Cam Gourley have had productive seasons with the bat and must step up even more now.
Wallington
Mr Consistent, aka Sven Burluraux, has made 321 runs and Billy Gravett has taken 15 wickets for the Wallabies, who are poised to pounce on the minor premiership if Port stumbles. There’s barely a weak link in this team as coach Matt Sampson-Barnes has his side primed for a major tilt at A1 Grade promotion and a coveted premiership.
Inverleigh
There’s been a lot to like about Inverleigh this season. An outright win to finish off 2024 and 17 wickets each to Locke Perrett and former Anglesea left-armer Danny Midolo. Lachlan Platt has 226 runs and the Kookaburras are looking good at the halfway mark.
Surf Coast
Who would have thought the rebranded Suns would be this competitive so quickly? Will Liddle (297 runs and 13 wickets) is a star and Rhys Healy has bustled in and taken 16 wickets. A finals appearance this season is a genuine possibility.
Collendina
The Cobras are struggling to replicate their effort of last season and are labouring a bit. The wickets just aren’t quite coming. Stan Grazotis (14 wickets, 131 runs) has been good while Corey Walter (312 runs) has been brilliant. The Snakes need a bit more from their young guns, who were so impressive last season. Two games against Wallington will be tough, but Dina plays St Leonards and Newcomb twice and is still very much in the mix.
Winchelsea
Shane Murdoch (254 runs) continues to be one of the best players in the comp and Matt Partridge (10 wickets at an economy rate of 2.8 an over) is always hard to get away. A tough fixture awaits with dual games against Port, Surf Coast and Inverleigh may see Winch fall short of finals.
St Leonards
How good has James Burns been with the ball? 23 wickets at 11.7 is the answer. The lion hearted seamer has been simply superb for his side, which has been unlucky not to win more games. If Brian White (225 runs) and the vastly improved Lachie Campbell (160) can dig in, a few more wins isn’t out of reach even if a finals spot probably is.
Newcomb
There is no doubt the Bulls have improved, but last round’s outright loss will hurt. Shane Healy can’t do much more than he already is with a comp-high 325 runs and 12 wickets to go with it. The rebuild is certainly on and it will take time, but Newcomb could easily surprise a few sides along the way.
