This morning the Geelong weather started out as atrocious, with horizontal rains and driving winds that were a sight to behold. The joint is in chaos down here. Everyone should vote immediately for the Greens. The skies came as clouds, went as rain and in between we also had hail.
The Quicksilver boardies are as popular as Ivan Milat.
The game today was a 3.00pm start and by that time, sun had peeped through and rain appeared at regular intervals. The fields dry quicker than Brad Haddin's mouth - not his gloves.
All the time, the wind was gale force (Terry, Scott and Brett Gale combined). In fact, the conditions were so bad it was insulting. No wonder Gary Ablett kicked a squillion AFL goals at Kardinia. The wind would let you kick it from 80 metres out.
No surprise then that today's game brought three home runs - two to us (Phillibossian -contested - Mayo and Frew) and one to WA. The winds that have prevailed all week, persisted.
We set out in a tight contest. WA were vocal and intense. We were circumspect and reserved. Strike outs, ground outs and a struggle emerged. It was tight. Until Philibossian smashed a home run - one which was contested by the umpires but one which sailed over the fence to everyone's eyes except the umpires' eyes. Honest fieldsmen are like honest North Korean dictators in these parts.
Our pitcher, Nick Eckberg (Cronulla), was superb. He pitched tightly and with great speed. He dominated their batting with lots of strikes and lots of strike outs. His subtelty and guile was outstanding. He was our best to date without doubt.
Hitting with the wind here gives every batter a huge advantage. It is a 30 - 40 metre wind. There would be golf handicaps which would be eclipsed here while all the while keeping the driver in the bag.
Conversely, pitchers probably drop 5-10 kmph when pitching into it. It turns umbrellas inside out, blows car doors open to scape poles and it was the type of wind to drive dogs to distraction. But while some of the mums are not in that class, we did have a stray dog interrupt the game for five minutes as it strolled around the infield unfettered. The dopey owner soon was howled down - some called for his being put down. His dog was wilder than the weather. Where is a stray Tim Tam when you need one?
On the field it was systematic dismantling of their attack. Our firepower in the batting box is too much. Frew, Dyer, Philibossian, Power, Moran, Packer, Mayo....on it goes. Relentless.
We were capable of a couple of errors again today in the field and these may prove costly eventually. Nonetheless, we triumphed 11-6, extending our lead when Claude Bova strode to the mound. His size, power and calm disposition was just what was required. He blasted them and curved balls to unseat their confidence. Zac Moran finished them off with great efficiency.
Dean Frew hit brilliantly for the most part again. Twice being on full count he rose to the occasion. His home run over left field was superb. The sound off the bat had the text messages sent before it landed.
Phillibossian has also begun to come into his own. He was crisp today.
From our viewpoint, James was pitchforked belatedly into the game in the final innings and made solid contact once more, before being caught from a skied ball. Sound familiar?
It is a difficult proposition to explain to the uninitiated how this transpires, but our guy is struggling. Not with the occasion, but with timing and rythmn. Our hope is that his next pitching assignment also brings greater reward, but the bats are certainly blazing at this tournament - not the pitchers. The ridiculous wind which only ever blows from behind every hitter - and into every pitcher's squinting eyes - on every diamond - makes it more likely too.
One innings games are becoming the norm for James and realistically, this is probably what was expected (or less) - particularly when he has not been hitting the ball. Every 'at bat' is a golden chance to prove something better. To show supporters and coaches of their mistaken understanding of his ability...to show himself that he belongs...to show his brother that the game is harder than it looks and to show you all that in Year 8 you can play aginst Year 11 boys and still triumph.
Ahhhh, now I feel bad the James' new bat did not arrive in time.
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