Premier Cricket: Dean, Russ bat Bulldogs to victory over Dandenong
Sam Wetering jumped from the Third to First XI in one week to debut for Dandenong. But the Bulldogs held sway at Shepley Oval thanks to their great batsman Dean Russ.
South East
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Dandenong coach Warren Ayres threw Sam Wetering a new ball at training last Thursday at Shepley Oval and told him something that left him shocked.
“You’re opening the bowling in the firsts on Saturday,’’ Ayres said to the 18-year-old.
“Geez whiz,’’ Wetering replied.
It’s fair to say it was a surprise selection from the Panthers.
After all, Wetering had played in the Third XI the previous week, his first match for the club since crossing from Springvale South in the Dandenong District Cricket Association.
He took two wickets with his medium pace, and with Dandenong needing to bring in two bowlers, the match committee decided to pick him for a First XI debut despite him not having played in the seconds.
Springy South stalwart Gregory Scott presented Wetering with his cap before play against Footscray at Shepley on Saturday.
The youngster batted in the late overs and faced former state quickie Jake Reed.
“As he’s running in I’m thinking, ‘Gee whiz, what have I signed up for here?’’’ Wetering said today.
“He (Reed) was a bit tired by then but he was still sharp.’’
Wetering tapped the ball to cover and partner Gehan Seneviratne called him through for a single.
He made five before holing out off Ben Roosenboom.
Wetering said he appreciated batting with Seneviratne, who played a bubbly innings off 44 not out from 37 balls to lift Dandenong to 8-185 after it was sent in.
“Yeah, ‘G’ (Seneviratne) was great, just talked me through it and tried to help me,’’ Wetering said. “He’s a good bloke.’’
A pull over the midwicket boundary off Reed brought Seneviratne him one of his three sixes, and he carved three boundaries as well to show he’s a fighter with the bat as well as a flighter with his leg-spin.
Skipper Brett Forsyth (23), Tom Donnell (21), Josh Slater (21), Sam Newell (21) and Aaron Fernando (30) were all handy rather than handsome contributors, and the Panthers finished short of where they needed to be.
The run out of Donnell was a blow; he and Slater had a mix-up after the ball went behind the wicketkeeper.
Forsyth played some punchy cover drives before he was castled by Reed, who is back on the Premier scene after recovering from a knee operation.
The right-armer bowled well for his 2-41 on a surface that gave him no great encouragement.
The Dogs reached their target in the 46th over, three wickets down, steered to victory by two deans of Premier batting, Travis Dean (52) and Dean Russ (79no).
Dean and Russ, the club’s run record-holder (his next milestone will be 9000 runs), put on 109 for the third wicket.
Wetering bowled five overs at a cost of 14 runs and Dean received most of his deliveries.
He said it was a great experience to bowl to a state player coming off a Shield century.
“I bowled defensively, just bowled to my field really,’’ he said.
“It was a good battle.’’
Asked if he had been nervous before the match, Wetering said he was more excited.
“I was in awe the whole time. I thought I had nothing to lose,’’ he said. “I was a little bit nervous, but not that nervous. I was just happy to be there.’’
The Panthers also gave a debut to tall right-arm fast bowler Andrew Jones, whom they recruited from Kingston Hawthorn. He showed some pace and finished with 0-25 off 6.4 overs.
Young Braden Taeuber took 1-33 off nine.
Forsyth said there were some “bright sparks’’ for Dandenong, including Seneviratne, Wetering and Taeuber.
He said Dean and Russ played well, giving a lesson in “hanging in and keep batting and batting’’.
“In saying that, it was clearly easier to chase down a score than it was to set one,’’ he said.
Forsyth said Reed was impressive, displaying good pace and control for the Bulldogs.
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