Ready: Echuca cricketers Isla Laffy, Beatrix Bray, Caitlin McKee and Ariel Howe are primed for grand final day. Photo: Josh Huntly
Photo by
Josh Huntly
History is there for the taking for Echuca Cricket Club’s two women’s cricket squads in Sunday’s Goulburn Murray Cricket grand finals.
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Echuca’s top grade will be chasing its third flag in four seasons in a clash against Shepparton Youth Club United, while the B-grade side is gunning for a maiden premiership.
Into their second consecutive deciders, both sides will arrive as underdogs, with Shepparton suffering just one loss en route to its first A-grade grand final.
Echuca inflicted Shepparton’s only defeat back in round five, but United has the upper hand in the win-loss column with three wins over the 2021-22 grand finalist.
What we’ve trained for: Echuca’s A and B-grade squads prepare for grand final day. Photo: Josh Huntly
Photo by
Josh Huntly
"We’ve had pretty even contests throughout the year (against Shepparton), but they’ve held the edge on us with a few more wins,“ Echuca coach Jon Varcoe said.
“We feel we’ve got a pretty good plan and a lot of girls who are in good form.”
Experienced duo Sharon Henson and Gill Noelker have been prominent run-scorers for Echuca during the season, while Chloe Moyle and Danielle Garden have spearheaded the bowling attack alongside captain Delaney Laffy.
In B-grade, the Jordan Dalziel-led Echuca will need to go through an undefeated Kyabram to taste premiership success.
The Redbacks have rarely been troubled on their path to the grand final, and in their only meeting Kyabram were 27-run winners.
Varcoe said it would be a good test for a “drastically improved” Echuca, who is coming off a strong semi-final win over BLU.
“B-grade is predominantly a young team made up of an enthusiastic group who have worked hard with (coach) Dave Hollamby,” he said.
“They’ve improved drastically throughout the season.
“They played their best game of the season last week, so they’re peaking at the right time.
“They’ll give a good account of themselves on Sunday.”
Echuca and Shepparton will face off from 10am at Kyabram Recreation Reserve, while Echuca and Kyabram’s B-grade decider commences at 2pm.
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