THE Wagin Cricket Club will host its first grand final this Saturday.
It will play Towns Cricket Club in what is a rematch of last year’s preliminary final that saw Towns thump Wagin and go on to win the premiership.
Wagin will not only be looking for revenge on last year but will be hoping to claim its third title in four years.
There is a lot on the line for both teams and the game threatens to be a tight encounter as both times the teams met during the year, each game came down to the last over of each match with Wagin scraping home both times.
Representing Wagin this year will be Mark Haverkort, Jordan Scardetta, Kevin Foale, Kim Davidson, Shane Bliss, Blair Hutton, Andrew Gath, Wade Enright, Gerard Hegarty, Greg Stephens and Brenden Hall who is captaining the side.
Unfortunately Dwight Kellow is unavailable for the game due to family commitments.
This is Mark Haverkort’s second season playing for Wagin.
He is the opening batsman for the side and has had an outstanding year scoring 235 runs at a healthy average of 33.57 – it’s not just the runs he has scored, it’s the overs he has faced.
He has been the rock of the side many times during the year, placing a great deal of pride on his wicket he has earned the respect of all the teams he has played against being very hard to dislodge and able to lift the rate later in his innings.
Jordan Scardetta has been a revelation this year also opening the batting he has scored 209 runs at an average of 22 and is a great foil for Haverkort.
He scores his runs at strike rate over 120 and has been one of only two players to score a century for Wagin this year.
His bowling has also improved remarkably and he finished the season off in a hurry taking nine wickets at a very good economy rate.
Wagin will be looking for him to fire with both bat and ball.
Kevin Foale, known as Crazy to everyone, has had a very quiet year after a solid one last year.
He has failed to get fired up but performs at his best in finals and is capable of changing the game with his power batting.
His bowling has really come around in the last few weeks and he is looking to be a major factor this weekend.
Kim Davidson is Wagin’s ‘X factor’.
On his day he is quite capable of winning the game with either bat or ball.
He has saved his best for the last few games of the season, actually coming to training, and the difference has been remarkable with him scoring 60 runs in his second last innings.
He has scored 84 runs for the year at an average of 17 and is one of Wagin’s main weapons with the ball.
He is a great on field leader as well and a great catcher.
Shane Bliss is Wagin’s ‘destroyer’ with the ball.
He has been the leading wicket taker for the year and has an outstanding economy rate.
He is clearly the quickest bowler in the team and on song one of the hardest players to face.
He should be set for a big game and hopefully that elusive five for.
Blair Hutton has had his season shot down by injury and is hopeful to return to the team in time for the weekend.
Hutton in his first season has been outstanding for Wagin.
He has been Wagin’s main spin bowler and also scored some handy runs.
He is lightning in the field and a very valued member of the team.
Andrew Gath has been around for quite some time and has struggled in previous years to have an impact.
He is a power hitter in every sense and goes down swinging every time.
He has had a good year this year, scoring 115 runs with a strike rate over 200 at times.
His bowling has been the difference this year with him having taken 10 wickets and a number of catches in his favoured gully area all for a great economy rate.
Hopefully set for a huge game on Saturday.
Wade Enright is an under 16 player who has played more than half the games for the senior side.
He has a long way to go in such a young career but has shown great promise with the ball and proving to be a more than handy lower order batsman.
He is Wagin’s best fielder in the deep or close and always hangs onto his catches.
Gerard Hegarty is affectingly known to his fellow players as Fossil as he is one of the older team members but with age comes wisdom and he has been a great player for Wagin all year.
His bowling has been brilliant all year and he has taken wickets with out conceding many runs in every game he has played he is also a handy fielder and pretends to bat very well.
He is very hard to dismiss once his mind is set a great all round team player.
Greg Stephens known as Tango is the passion of the team he is the man with all the advice and the hardest man to dismiss in the team.
When ever the teams back is to the wall Stephens is there to lift the team up and carry them over the line.
His batting has won many games for the side and his bowling is accurate and difficult to score off.
In what could be his last game for his beloved side he will be looking for everyone to lift and deliver the premiership.
Lastly Brenden Hall is the captain and wicket keeper for the side.
His batting this year has been brilliant with him scoring 317 runs at a very health average of 52.
He also has taken some catches that Adam Gilchrist would be proud of behind the stumps.
He is a great all-round cricketer who has played Association Cricket this year.
He is the reason Wagin wins a lot of games and he will be out trying his best to deliver another premiership to Wagin – whatever happens he always gives 100 per cent.
So it comes down to this the last game of the season when everything that has been done throughout the season counts for nothing unless the final is won.
Every player that takes to the field will have to be at their very best for the side to win, there is no room for excuses.
Players are remembered for what they do in finals we hope that there are a lot of good memories this weekend.
The game starts at 12.30pm with the toss at 12.15pm.
There will be a bar and cool drink available for purchase with the newly painted grandstands out on the oval providing shade for anyone that wants to come and watch.
It is hoped a big crowd will be there to cheer Wagin on to win this year’s premiership.
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