Tara Murray
Gladstone Park is setting itself for a strong finals campaign in the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association.
The Burras four sides are all in the top four, with their eyes focused on going deep into the season.
President Sam Anastasiou said they couldn’t have asked for much more this season.
“We’re back up in A-grade and we’re sitting second,” he said. “We’ve been strong throughout the whole club.
“Our seconds are sitting second as well and our one-day side is third and our Sunday side is on top.
“The atmosphere and the vibe around the club, it’s a good place to be. There’s a great bunch of blokes.”
Having won the second division premiership last season, the Burras were keen to have a strong season back in the George Luscombe Shield.
Anastasiou said they hadn’t been surprised by how well they have gone so far.
“We expected to make finals and we would be happy with that,” he said. “We kept everyone from last year and we brought in three or four guys.
“We wanted to make sure we were competitive and would hopefully make finals.”
The Burras are midway through their two-day match against the Chargers.
The Chargers made 317, bowled out in the 70th over.
Anthony Fawcus took 4-106 off his 22.4 overs.
The Burras had to bat 10 overs at the end of day one. They lost one early wicket and will resume at 1-39.
Anastasiou said they were missing five or six players out of their top two sides on the weekend, most of them bowlers. Their second XI will also need to score more than 300 for victory.
He said even though they were chasing more than 300 in the first XI, they were confident they could get the job done.
“I would be disappointed if we didn’t chase that down,” he said.
“Everyone is making a lot of big scores. To get 320 odd in 80 overs is achievable.”
A win would move the Burras one step closer to a top two spot.
Anastasiou said should they win two of their last three games they would finish in the top two.
In the Athol Attwater Shield, Hume is on top against the Northern Lions.
Hume was bowled out for 284 in the 56th over.
Vishavjeet Singh top scored with 83.
The Lions will resume at 4-65.
In the Graham Muir Shield, Balmoral made 6-315 against Hume, with Joel Matthews making a century.
