By Tara Murray
Bundoora is hoping luck turns its way in the Diamond Valley Cricket Association Barclay Shield.
A tough first-round loss, a couple of injuries and a rain interrupted second round, and things have been anything but smooth for the Bulls.
Bundoora captain-coach Jason Kaminski admits that it hasn’t been an ideal start.
Having conceded an outright defeat in round one, the Bulls were hoping for a better day with the bat on Saturday against Rosanna.
They finished the day at 6-124 having faced 69 overs.
Kaminski said it was a tough day for all on the field.
“We were coming on and off,” he said.
“We came off three times and it made it difficult to settle a bit.
“After a disappointing round one, we came out yesterday a bit better.
“We were a bit sluggish early on, nice to have a steady partnership and put us in a good spot for next week.”
The Bulls will bat on this Saturday, but it’s a matter of whether they will face five overs or 11 overs.
They have the option to bat for five, meaning both sides face the same amount of overs, or bat out their 80 overs.
Kaminski said they would sit down during the week and work out which was the best option.
Lachlan Smart (42) and Kaminski (33) are the two not out batsmen, having put on 75 runs for the seventh-wicket partnership.
“We’re going to go out and try and get a good score and give our bowlers something to bowl at,” Kaminski said. “We couldn’t do that last week. If we can get runs on the board and bowl them out, we can get some confidence.”
The skipper, who is in his third year as captain-coach, said it was going to take some time for the side to gel this year.
While they’ve added the experienced Sam Crea, the focus for Bundoora this year is on youth.
Kaminski said they wanted to give more experience to those who are coming through the ranks.
“We’re a work in progress with the development of the young kids,” he said.
“We spoke about it at the end of last season as knew we were losing a few.
“We decided to go with what we have and develop the young kids future of the club, develop them now rather than later.”
Opening bat Callan Jones, number three Nick Caracella and Smart are three players expected to get more opportunities.
Kaminski said the addition of Crea, who has played premier cricket, was a big one.
Crea missed the weekend with a hamstring injury sustained in the opening round.
“His knowledge of the game and the things that he sees on the ground that I don’t [will be a huge benefit].
“It’s the simple stuff we have to get right and hopefully we start winning games.”
Heidelberg is 8-185 against Epping.
