Tamworth Cricket Association’s version of Groundhog Day is – weather permitting – set to play out this weekend as Old Boys and South Tamworth do battle for the Wombramurra Rose Bowl Trophy.
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The two have played in the last three grand finals with Old Boys claiming the spoils all three occasions.
A cloud literally hangs over Souths endeavours to turn the tables though with rain throughout the week putting the game in jeopardy.
“It’s not looking good,” Old Boys skipper and Tamworth District Cricket Association president Ben Middlebrook said Friday morning as the rain continued.
“I can’t see us playing Saturday.”
They do have Sunday as well, and the sun did peak out late on Friday.
Originally scheduled for No.1 Oval the game has been moved to Riverside, and both Dick Edwards Oval (Riverside 1) and Riverside 2 were covered on Thursday night.
The biggest problem though is that because of the persistent rain the council haven’t been able to get on and prepare the wickets.
“It’s not ideal,” Middlebrook said, adding that they don’t really have any room to move with AFL starting next weekend.
Old Boys were the first team through to the grand final after overcoming Souths in the major semi-final two weeks ago, and will be looking to exercise a similar plan to what they did that game.
The bowlers rightly earned a lot of the plaudits, Aaron Hazlewood leading the charge with a career-best 14 wickets for the game.
They (bowlers) have dominated proceedings throughout the finals, and Middlebrook isn’t foreshadowing the case to be any different this weekend.
“Both teams have got good bowling attacks,” he said.
“It will come down to the batsmen delivering.”
In saying that, it’s not going to be easy for the batsmen though with the conditions likely to favour the bowlers.
“There’ll be a lot of seam movement around,” he said.
They will welcome back Jamie Mitchell, which should strengthen their batting.
A lot for Souths will rest heavily on whether their batsmen can fire. In both the major semi-final and the preliminary final last weekend they haven’t.
They know they go in underdogs, with Old Boys the form team all season.
Not that that worries Souths.
As skipper Tom Groth remarked after they somehow conjured a spot in the grand final they just keep turning up.
Old Boys and North Tamworth have three teams each involved in the grand final action and will play each other in both second and third grade, while the Redbacks will take on City United in fourth grade.
