Gympie Colts' message to Murgon before grand final standoff

The Gympie side are hoping to shock the reigning premiers today.

BACK ROW: Jye Robinson, Andrew "Chappy” Mallett, B.J. Sauer, Matthew Tramacchi, Dean Chandler, Chris Hughes and Anthony Smerdon.FRONT ROW: Gary McClintock, Guy Preston, Dean Walker and Sam Lang. Picture: Contributed

CRICKET: The Gympie Colts will attempt to wrest the Gympie Regional Cricket Association A Grade premiership from the South Burnett region's grip when they face reigning champs Murgon in the 2018-19 grand final today.

Led by captain and key bowler Anthony Smerdon, the Colts will enjoy home-field advantage, despite Murgon finishing on top of the table and claiming the minor premiership.

An experienced and battle-tested Murgon side will also take confidence from their semi-final clash with the Colts, when they won by 20 runs and sent the Gympie side to a sudden-death eliminator against the Harlequins.

Gympie Colts A-grade Grand Final side 2019

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Coming off a comfortable seven-wicket victory over their fellow-Gympie side in the preliminary final, Smerdon said the Colts would be bullish about their chances on the last and most important day of the season calendar.

Smerdon said his side would need to capitalise on their strength and consistency with the ball to pressure the Murgon batting order.

"Bowling them out is obviously going to be the key, batting is their strength and they've shown that all season,” Smerdon said.

"We need to do the best we can to limit them to a smaller total, which we've done before.

"Fielding is another big thing. We've been able to hold our catches for most of the season and we need to make sure we do that on Saturday. We've made a few mistakes in the field recently, so we'll need to make sure we limit those.”

The Colts stormed through Murgon's usually potent batsmen for just 46 runs in a comprehensive Round 12 win, including league-leading run scorer Jason Webber for 10.

Opening bowler Dean Chandler, who has 14 wickets and a five-wicket haul in seven matches since crossing to the Colts from the Gympie Gold XI, echoed his captain's call for consistency in the decider.

"If we bowl good line and length, keep tight areas and take our chances when they come we'll be pretty close,” Chandler said.

"We dropped six catches the other week, it doesn't help when you're dropping them.

"It's about maintaining what we've been doing all year, the boys have been playing well all year and we're hoping the consistency pays off.”

Chandler pointed to teammates Chris Hughes (league leader for most wickets), Sam Lang and Andrew 'Chappy' Mallett as the Colts' standout performers throughout the season.

GYMPIE COLTS GRAND FINAL TEAM

1. Chris Hughes, all-rounder

Runs: 212. HS: 80. Wickets: 29. Best: 4/37.

2. Gary McClintock, all-rounder

Runs: 162. HS: 49. Wickets: 9. Best: 2/26.

3. Shane Schmidt, batsman

Runs: 133. HS: 43. Catches: 3.

4. Dean Walker, wicketkeeper-batsman

Runs: 178. HS: 67. Catches: 3.

5. Jye Robinson, batsman

Runs: 186. HS: 47. Catches: 4.

6. Matthew Tramacchi, bowler (12th man)

Wickets: 8. Best: 4/10.

7. Guy Preston, batsman

Runs: 125. HS: 68. Catches: 4.

8. Anthony Smerdon (c), bowler

Runs: 117. HS: 23. Wickets: 22. Best: 3/16.

9. Brandon Sauer, batsman

Runs: 249. HS: 57. Catches: 8.

10. Dean Chandler, bowler

Wickets: 14. Best: 5/14.

11. Sam Lang, bowler

Wickets: 19. Best: 6/10.

12. Andrew Mallett, all-rounder

Runs: 128. HS: 31. Wickets: 19. Best: 5/16.

THE MURGON DANGER MEN

Jason Webber, batsman

Runs: 499 (Most in league). HS: 108. Wickets: 6. Best: 2/6.

Ashley Sippel, all-rounder

Runs: 313. HS: 141. Wickets: 17. Best: 5/19.

Graham Brown (c), all-rounder

Runs: 133. HS: 78. Wickets: 24. Best: 5/5.

Gympie Colts v Murgon face off for the Gympie Region Cricket Association A-Grade Premiership at Kozminsky Oval, One Mile Sports Complex at 12.30pm

Originally published as Gympie Colts' message to Murgon before grand final standoff