Rounds 12, 13 & ODSF

PREMIER CRICKET'S COUNTRY ROUND

Premier Clubs, players, administrators, supporters and umpires have all enjoyed another Premier Country Round, with eight matches played last Saturday across the State. Cricket Victoria salutes the fantastic support provided by all involved at Maryborough, Ballarat, Leongatha, Wy Yung, Wangaratta, Mooroopna, Euroa and Albury, who all viewed the climax to the Kookaburra One-Day season.

The Bairnsdale match at Wy Yung saw the tightest finish, with North Melbourne falling just three runs short of Prahran.AKangaroos victory would have seen Carlton sneak into the semis, but Prahran held firm, thanks to five catastrophic run outs, fine innings of 69 not out by Steve De Bolfo and 50 by Ciaron Connolly and the experience of Bryce McGain at the end.

Other wonderful performances were seen from Ringwood's Ben Osborne, with a brilliant 120 off just 101 balls at East Albury, Carlton's Evan Gulbis, who scored his third Country Round ton at Wangaratta (he has already "crossed off" Wonthaggi and Ballarat) and Lloyd Mash, who scored a fantastic 105 at Mooroopna.

Casey-SouthMelbourne continued its surge towards the finals with a comprehensive win over Essendon, Ringwood arrested its slump with a good win over Northcote, St Kilda and Richmond bowled out their respective opponents cheaply and Melbourne furthered its apparent invincibility in the one-day format with a big win over the Cats at the MCG.

TWO-DAYERS RETURN

The next two weekends sees the return of the two-day format. There are several important matches in Round 12, with the GEELONG v PRAHRAN clash the match of the round. Just seven points separates top from ninth. The Cats, after their recent T20 triumph, will be very keen to continue the momentum, whilst PRAHRAN, although unpredictable, are currently in the eight and aim to remain there.

Over the next two rounds, several clubs face seasondefining matches. For CAMBERWELL MAGPIES (v ST KILDA & DANDENONG), FOOTSCRAY EDGEWATER (v DANDENONG & CASEY-SOUTH MELBOURNE), FRANKSTON PENINSULA (v FITZROY DONCASTER & MELBOURNE UNI), RICHMOND (v CASEY-SOUTH MELBOURNE & NORTH MELBOURNE), MELBOURNE UNI (v RINGWOOD & FRANKSTON PENINSULA) and ESSENDON (v NORTH MELBOURNE & GEELONG), their Rounds 12 and 13 clashes will be critical to the remainder of their respective seasons. Put simply, losses would be extremely costly and the resultant gap to the eight may be too much to recoup if the results do not go their way.

MILESTONES

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