By Mikayla van Loon
Lilydale Cricket Club has done something spectacular this season after the 1XI team finished second bottom last year.
Now the team is heading into the grand final in the Lindsey Trollope Shield against North Ringwood.
Although senior coach Mick Beyer said North Ringwood beat Lilydale in the qualifying final, the pairing will be a good match up.
“The preparation this week’s been really good. Tuesday night was a good training night. You’ve got to be in it to win it, so we’re 50 per cent chance. We just have to play up to our maximum potential and give ourselves the best chance,” he said.
Since finishing bottom two, the club picked up some great players and really focused on developing skills for one day cricket.
Beyer said the team has shown great success in all aspects of on the field play throughout the season.
“We’ve had a number of 100 run partnerships, which has been great. We’ve also had two guys make centuries during the year and we’ve consistently had guys making 50s, which always help,” he said
“Our bowling has been very good and our fielding has gone up a level in the last few weeks.”
A challenging competition the whole way through, Beyer said it has been a pleasure to watch and coach this side to a grand final.
“The comp is a very strong comp. At the end of the home and away season, there were six teams within six points of each other at the top of the ladder.
“We’ve been under pressure the whole way through to actually make it to finals. So now we’re there, we now need to give it our best shot.”
North Ringwood will be a tough side to beat, knowing they are good at all facets of the game Beyer said but he just wants his team to do the best they can.
As a young club, Beyer said there’s no one taking to the field on Saturday who’s not under 30, so he said heading into future seasons he would expect the club to remain at the top level.
Lilydale take to the pitch at 1pm on Saturday 19 March at the North Ringwood Reserve.
