It may be called the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association, but it will be an all Surf Coast A1 Grade final at Inverleigh tomorrow.
The competition’s benchmark, Anglesea, takes on Jan Juc for the second consecutive season and although the two clubs are rivals, there is a lot of mutual respect.
“We get on really well,” Anglesea skipper Ned Cooper said.
“We’ve been the top two sides the last two years and played off in the granny last year. Once we cross the line on the field, there’s no love lost, but we definitely get along well after the game and when we cross paths socially.”
“I like the way they go about it,” Jan Juc captain Jordy Graham said.
“They’re not your mates when you’re out there, they’re tough but they are the first ones to put it all aside once it’s finished.
“They beat us last year and they all put their medals away and came straight in and had a beer with us.”
Jan Juc will be without punishing opener Iva Priest, who will attend his brother’s wedding. Mark Zahra will take his place.
Anglesea will take the same XI that thrashed Ocean Grove in the semi.
The unbeaten Seas will head into the game as overwhelming favourites, but Cooper said that didn’t mean there won’t be nerves.
“Anyone who has played in a grand final is going to be nervous and if you’re not, then there’s probably something wrong,” he said.
“It’s just about going back to what we’ve done throughout the season and hopefully we can execute that and come away with the chocolates.”
Graham conceded favouritism, but also said most of the pressure will be on Anglesea.
“They will go in expecting to win and their crowd and supporters expect them to win,” he said.
We’re going in with the attitude that we have nothing to lose and we’ll throw our best shot at them and hopefully it comes off.”
Both sides possess firepower with bat and ball, although it’s almost impossible to find a genuine weakness in Anglesea’s game.
Cooper and fellow opener Tyron Norman have 1212 runs between them this season and with Brett Harding (372 runs), they form as good a top three that has been seen in years.
Jan Juc has Ben Grinter (539 runs) and Jordi Withers (329) and Brad Roberts (279) as players who can go big.
Both sides have strong bowling attacks, but Anglesea’s depth is out of this world.
Raw pace is provided by Dale Kerr and Dylan Taylor with Joe Lynch the leggie and Brett Venables with his mystery balls.
The Sharks have gun quick Nicky Smith and Graham, who is deadly accurate with his left-arm seamers.
Cooper said being able to call on six or seven quality bowlers was comforting.
“If someone gets taken to a bit you can just take them off and bring someone else to do the job and they can come back on a bit later,” he said.
“It’s a real luxury for me.”
Cooper nominated batters Grinter and Withers and bowlers Smith and Graham as dangermen for his side.
“They’ve got some classy batsmen in Benny (Grinter) and Jordy Withers and if they bat for long periods of time, they can take the game away from you,” he said.
“They’ve got some good strike bowlers in Jordy Graham and Nicky Smith so they’ve got some star quality.”
Graham said Anglesea’s star power was unmatched.
“Their top four is as good as I’ve seen in local cricket for a long time,” he said.
“We were going okay against them last time and then Dale (Kerr) came out in those last 10 overs and took it away.
“And once BJ (Brett Harding) is in he hits them better than anyone.”
Graham was unsure what to say when asked what it would take to beat Anglesea.
“If anyone knows the answer they can give me a call,” he said.
“We’re going to have to have some blokes stand up. To beat them you need things to go well and your best to stand up. Grand finals are normally won by your top-end talent.
“We obviously need a bit of luck to go our way, I don’t think they’ve lost a game in three or four years, but in a one-day game you need a few things to go your way.”
The final is at Inverleigh on Saturday March 19 starting at 1pm.
