EVEN though they’ve qualified for finals, Wangaratta’s A grade cricket squad will treat the next two weekends as if they’re vital. The Magpies sit second on the ladder heading into the final round of the home and away season, just 3.80 points ahead of Beechworth Wanderers, and will host Ovens Valley United to round out the regular season. While the result of the ‘Pies' match this weekend will have no bearing on their qualification status for finals, a loss could mean they miss out on a home final, and have to travel for the cut-throat finals series. Magpies skipper Cooper Matheson said his side was eager to continue their fine form into the knock-outs. “You always want to play at home and we enjoy playing at home, so if we win and get the home final it’s good for us,” he said. “You’d rather finish second than third or fourth, even though you don’t get a double chance so it doesn’t really matter. “As long as you finish in the top four you’ve got a chance at winning it. “We’re looking forward to taking on OVU this weekend.” The Magpies have been one of the success stories of the competition this season. After finishing in the middle of the table with an even win/loss record of seven apiece, and with a largely changed side, Wangaratta have only lost four matches for the season. “Early on especially, we were batting teams out of games, our batting was winning us games whereas other years we were batting pretty poorly,” Matheson said. “When we had Prav [Pranav Menon], we were relying on Prav to do the majority of the work, but now everyone’s chipping in every week and we’re putting good totals on, which is good. “Chook’s [Kyle Winter-Irving] economy is ridiculous, the same with his strike rate and Fraser’s [Ellis] economy. “Even Jimmy Thewlis for a few games, he’s been bowling with an economy of less than two, and he was doing that in one-day cricket. “The likes of Gilly [Zac Guilfoyle] just know how to tie down batters. “We just play boring cricket in the two-dayers with the ball and not let people score and they just lose their wicket.” Having missed out on a chance to play finals, Ovens Valley United has nothing to lose from this round’s match-up with the ‘Pies, and it makes them dangerous. Tigers’ playing coach Geeth Alwis has dominated in his first season in the competition, leading the batting charts with 677 runs at 75.22 – almost 200 runs more than his nearest rival – and is one wicket behind in the bowling charts, having taken 30 poles at an average of 7.70 and an economy of 2.04. The Tigers are determined to finish on a high, and will look to mix their young players with established names to try and get the job done at Norm Minns Oval. “The big one, and everyone knows it, is Geeth with bat and ball,” Matheson said. “With his bowling, you can’t let him get any wickets but he’ll probably bowl 25 overs for the day. “Bowling to him, pace off and try to tie him down, try to make him make a mistake. “Then you’ve got the likes of Cooper Thomason, he’s good with the bat, he made plenty of runs at Country Week and knows how to bat.” Wangaratta Magpies take on Ovens Valley United this Saturday at Norm Minns Oval, with the first ball set for 1pm.
