Across Friday November 9, Saturday November 10, and Sunday November 11, Brad Smith and Josh Watling of the Goulburn and Districts Cricket Association were part of the ACT Southern Districts side which topped its pool in the Country Championships.
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The ACT side won all three of its clashes against Greater Illawarra, Riverina, and Newcastle by five wickets, 50 runs, and 18 runs respectively.
Smith and Watling were in good touch throughout the tournament: the former took a wicket in each of the innings in which he bowled, while the latter scored a crucial 48 in the team’s chase of 152 against Greater Illawarra.
“It was really good,” Smith said of the weekend.
“I bowled in the first two and took 1-21 in both games … it was coming out alright. My job was to bowl areas and build a bit of pressure, so I felt comfortable with that.”
Having emerged at the top of the Southern NSW pool, ACT Southern Districts will now take on Central Coast in the final at Bradman Oval in Bowral.
My job was to bowl areas and build a bit of pressure, so I felt comfortable with that.
- Brad Smith
Although they are the reigning champions, the Central Coast side did not have the same undefeated streak as ACT Southern Districts throughout the pool stages, and Smith believes that if the batting lineup can begin to click, his side has a good chance of claiming the title.
“I think they’re pretty good, I think they might have won it last year. It’ll be a pretty tough game,” Smith said.
“One game we got 211, but I think the top order looked good but didn’t fire. So hopefully they can fire in the final. The bowling and fielding was pretty good, to defend a couple of low totals shows that.”
Central Coast lost their first match to Central Northern, before defeating the Western and North Coastal sides in their last two pool matches, and it appears as though they rely heavily on their top order to score the bulk of their runs.
If that is the case, ACT Southern Districts will be well in the game with their strong bowling and fielding stocks.
The team, Smith said, were “a good bunch of blokes”, and the cohesiveness of the side appears to have been one of their major strengths throughout the tournament.
“[They] really made me feel welcome,” Smith said.
The Country Championship grand final between ACT Southern Districts and the Central Coast will take place at Bradman Oval. A date is yet to be specified due to scheduling conflicts.
