ALL eyes will be on the cricket pitches of the Limestone Coast today, as the 2018-19 Mount Gambier and District cricket season kicks off across the Blue Lake City.
With weather hindering plenty of training sessions in the lead up to the season opener, players will look forward to the sunny weekend forecast.
Tomorrow’s one-day format will give a good indication of where teams sit early in the year, as last season’s bottom three teams go up against the top trio.
Reigning premier Penola will travel to McDonald Park to face wooden spooner East Gambier, while across town South Gambier will host West Gambier at Blue Lake Sports Park, with runners-up
North Sportsman’s and fifth place finisher Mil Lel to lock horns at Reidy Park.
Association vice president Robert Drenthen said he was still unsure whether the turf wickets would be right, with the hard wickets likely to be used at Blue Lake Sports Park and McDonald Park.
The North v Mil Lel game was transferred to Frew Park due to roller issues at Marist Park, but will now be held at Reidy Park.
The last time these teams met in the one-day format was back in the opening round of 2017-18, which makes it hard to know what can be expected.
Based on ladder position from last season, the clash between the Demons and the Roos should be the closest.
However, last year West finished the season in second place, while South finished in fourth.
Little has changed in the West lineup, while for South the return of injured players, as well as David Vine back at the club, should provide the Demons with more firepower.
For 2017-18 champions Penola, the meeting with the Bulldogs should be a one-sided argument based on last year’s results.
The Eagles lost just one game for the season, while East only tasted victory on a single occasion to put the teams at opposite ends of the spectrum.
But with another year under the belts of the junior players in the Bulldogs’ ranks and the inclusion of Alex Pfeiffer, East will hope to lift itself in 2018-19.
The Eagles will miss the services of opening bowler Brad Maney, but other than that, there are no real changes.
Penola would rightly start as favourite for this game and should kick off its season with a win.
The final match of the round will see North eager to hit the ground running after a disappointing finish to last season.
The grand final defeat at the hands of Penola will be fresh on its mind and the Tigers will have their sights set on the shield this year.
Led by captain Matt McInerney and with the return of Mitch Lewis and Justin McConnell, plus the recruitment of West’s Kayne Badman, North will be at the pointy end of the competition again.
Despite the disruptions of transferring the game to Mil Lel’s home deck, then over to the hard wicket at Reidy Park, the Tigers should still have the goods to claim a win first up.
McInerney will be eager to lead by example this season and Mil Lel will need to bring its A-game if it is to hold the Tigers at bay.
But with another year of experience for the many young faces in the Mil Lel lineup, it could surprise some teams this season and no game is ever set in stone.
But this week the task is just too tough.
