North Metro Cricket Association: Old Ivanhoe is starting to turn the corner with some outstanding T20 form
It might be at the foot of the ladder but spurred on by some very handy T20 scalps, Old Ivanhoe is confident of Quick Shield safety.
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Despite sitting at the foot of the NMCA Quick Shield ladder, there’s a quiet confidence at Chelsworth Park that a young Old Ivanhoe side will be able to remain in the second tier just 12 months after claiming the Kelly Shield premiership.
“A lot of it is personnel,” skipper Ryan Pearce said. “Two of our top four batsmen didn’t return this year. It gives more opportunity to younger players but, at the moment, they are Kelly Shield players playing in Quick Shield.”
Though the youngsters are starting to find their feet in the higher grade, Old Ivanhoe has found things difficult with bat in hand this summer.
Its bowling attack, however, is one of the best going around. Indeed Old Ivanhoe earned promotion on the back of running through Camrea for just 34 in last year’s grand final.
“We’re bowling teams out for 150,” Pearce said. “But then we are struggling to make the runs.”
While its NMCA Saturday season has started sluggishly, Old Ivanhoe has blazed its way to the regional final of the statewide T20 competition, claiming a number of impressive scalps along the way.
Old Ivanhoe will host DVCA’s Eltham in the decider at Chelsworth Park next Tuesday. Along the way it’s left the highly-rated Lower Eltham, Heidelberg West and Macleod in its wake.
“In Quick Shield, we’re playing for our lives,” Pearce said. “In the T20s there’s no pressure, the expectation is pretty low for us.”
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And with confidence growing, the NMCA form is starting to turn.
Last week, Old Ivanhoe was all out for 216, with a run out off the last ball, chasing Camrea’s 217 in a one-dayer at John Hall Reserve.
“I was proud of my boys, 216 against a side that’s battling for the four,” Pearce said. “They were more nervous than we were I think, the last pair going at a run-a-ball for 30 runs. We needed two runs off the last ball and there was a run out.
“The boys were devastated, you could see it in their faces.”
But with the tide turning of a Saturday and the side’s outstanding midweek form, there’s a lot to like about Old Ivanhoe’s summer.
Next for Old Ivanhoe is a two-day local derby tussle with Olympic Colts at Chelsworth Park followed by second-bottom Fairfield.
“We’ll give ourselves a crack (against Colts) but the big game for us is the week after,” Pearce said. “I’m desperate for us to stay up. Because, if we can get all our guys on the park, we’re right in it. The guys, you can see it in their faces, they’re enjoying their cricket.”