Round 12 & 13 Preview

VB PREMIER CRICKET

The Blues, Demons, Rams and Bulldogs head the table with just six rounds to go. CARLTON, after losses to the Students before Christmas and the Panthers in Ballarat in the Country Round, appear to have steadied with a thumping win at Casey Fields in Round 11 and have regained top spot. MELBOURNE, since Christmas have a hard-fought win over the Tigers at Wonthaggi and a big win over the Bulldogs at home to their credit.

RINGWOOD (3rd) and FOOTSCRAY EDGEWATER (4th) continue to impress. The Rams racked up their sixth successive win in Round 11 over the Magpies after outplaying the Bulldogs at Horsham and are well-placed to play in their first finals series for 14 years. The Bulldogs, clear on top at the break, have lost to the Rams and the Demons since, but are in a good position to compete in the finals for the second successive season.

MELBOURNE UNI, to its credit in a nomadic first half of the season, somehow keeps winning and finds itself in fifth position on the ladder. Last Saturday's last-ball win over the Bombers with nine wickets down epitomized their season, guided home by acting skipper Paul Percy. The Students' greatest winning margin in their seven wins has been 11 runs (over Prahran at Central Reserve), but play resumes at University Oval as from Round 12, so the Students return home. Respectively fifth, first, first and third in the four elevens, the Students (475) have maintained their lead in the CV Club Championship from last season's winners the Blues (442), the Demons (430) and the Rams (423).

It is also pleasing to see ESSENDON, NORTH MELBOURNE and HAWTHORN-MONASH UNI again in contention for a finals berth. Recent finals regulars ST KILDA, DANDENONG, RICHMOND, FITZROY DONCASTER, NORTHCOTE and CAMBERWELLMAGPIES, while not out of it, all have some work to do to play off late in March.

VB ONE-DAYERS

MELBOURNE, undefeated in the one-day program, heads the table with just one match remaining and, with CARLTON, NORTH MELBOURNE and MELBOURNE UNI, is assured a Quarter Finals berth. Eight teams will contest the other four positions.

Important games in the last of the scheduled one-dayers next Saturday will be:

HAW-MONASH UNI v RINGWOOD, a QF spot for the winner, loser may miss out.
CARLTON v NORTH MELBOURNE, for positioning as both are guaranteed a QF.
CAMBERWELL MAGPIES v MELBOURNE, Magpies must win to have a QF chance.
RICHMOND v ESSENDON, Tigers must win to have a QF chance.

One-Day Quarter Finals
Sunday 3 February
Fixtures and venues for all elevens will be announced on the Premier website next Sunday.

One-Day Semi Finals
Sunday 17 February

One-Day Finals
Monday 10 March

Prizemoney (1st XIs only) will be $6,000 to the One-Day Premiers, $3,000 to the runners-up and $1,000 each to the other six finals teams.

PREMIER CRICKET'S COUNTRY ROUND

For the tenth successive season, Premier Clubs again enjoyed the outstanding hospitality and excellent conditions provided by Victoria's regional centres when Premier Cricket resumed after the Christmas/New Year break on 5th January.

Centuries were scored by Evan Gulbis and David Newman at Ballarat, Matthew Wade at Moama, Simon Dart at Maryborough and Andrew McGuinness at Wangaratta and David King took six wickets, including a hat-trick, at Horsham.

Cricket Victoria extends sincere gratitude to all host associations, clubs and local government for all their assistance in putting on another great Country Round.

CA UNDER 17 CHAMPIONSHIPS

In full swing at grounds around Melbourne, the Under 17 title looks like a two-horse race between New South Wales and South Australia. Although finals are no longer played at under-age championships, fittingly these two states play-off in the last round in what appears likely to be a virtual "Final".

To all Premier Clubs who have hosted these matches, and also to VSDCA clubs Bayswater, Noble Park, Croydon and Oakleigh, who all hosted games, Cricket Victoria extends a huge thank you for playing a big part in the "Australian Cricket Pathway".

COMMONWEALTH BANK PATHWAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Cricket Victoria is right in the middle of a huge fortnight for the cream of our young cricketers. Inner East Emus and North East Knights play off for the Commonwealth Bank Cup in the Under 18 Final on Monday 14 January at the MCG and, over the next week, the Dowling Shield Under 16s and Under 14s contest their Championships at Premier grounds around Melbourne.

PRIMARY EDGE CUP

Quarter Finals
Monday 14 January 2008
Prahran v Footscray Edgewater at Toorak Park

Tuesday 15 January 2008
Casey-Sth Melbourne v Essendon at Casey Fields #4
Melbourne v Carlton at the Albert Ground
Geelong v Dandenong at Geelong

Semi Finals
Tuesday 22 January 2008

Final
Wednesday 30 January 2008

Premier Twenty20 Competition - 20 overs per side. 4 overs maximum per bowler; field restrictions apply. "Bowl-out" decides tied or no-result matches.
Hours of Play: 5.15pm - 8pm

MILESTONES

Congratulations to the following players, umpires and scorers who have achieved, or are about to achieve, notable milestones MORE

KOOKABURRA AWARDS

View Kookaburra Award winners from Rounds 10 and 11. MORE

PHOTO QUIZ

Who are we? MORE

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Ladders and Club Championship (108.71 KB)	Memorable Matches (49.09 KB)
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