2-day game - day 1

at Eastern Oval, Saturday 1pm

LAST TIME THEY MET

Last season's grand final: Golden Point 164 and 163 d Brown Hill 146 and 132

LADDER (after 2 rounds): WENDOUREE 9, 2.8424; MT CLEAR 9, 2.7329; DARLEY 9, 1.6791; BALLARAT-REDAN 9, 1.1173; Napoleons-Sebastopol 9, -; North Ballarat 6, 0.3659; Brown Hill 3, 0.8950; Golden Point 3, 0.5956; East Ballarat 3, 0.351

SELECTED TEAMS

GOLDEN POINT: Joshua White (c), Daniel White, James Hartnell, Stephen O'Loughlin, Andrew Falkner, Andrew Warrick, Simon Ogilvie, Daniel McDonald, Bailey Van De Heuvel, Damian Klein, Matt Harris

BROWN HILL: Ryan Knowles (c), Tom Bourke-Finn, Joe Crichard, Daniel Davies, Fraser Hunt, Matthew McMahon, Nathan Northcott, Nathan Smith, Cameron Tonkin, Stuart Calder, Amal Ranawaka Arachchige

Golden Point and Brown Hill go into a grand final rematch determined to make amends for disappointing first-up losses in Ballarat Cricket Association firsts.

Each came out of their respective assignments with only themselves to blame, with batting displays leaving much to be desired.

Neither had key recruits - Amal Ranawaka Arachchige (Sri Lanka) for Brown Hill and Tamar Lambert (West Indies) for Golden Point - and will be stronger once they settle in, but they cannotwait for that to ignite their seasons. Arachchige makes his BCA debut this round, but the wait for Lambert continues.

While Brown Hill could easily have got the points in the tightest of finishes against Ballarat-Redan, Bulls skipper Ryan Knowles was not interested in excuses, saying they had missed the boat with the bat after a strong start.

Additions Cameron Tonkin and Joe Crichard, Dan Davies and Knowles all got going, but no one went on to get what most probably would have been a match-winning knock.

"We let ourselves down," a blunt Knowles said.

He said it had been most disappointing not to go away with the points.

A definite plus though was the return of prolific wicket-taker Matt McMahon.

While he pulled up a little sore, McMahon will be better for the outing and undoubtedly pose a threat to the reigning premier's revamped top order. Opener Dwayne Hiscock will be missing, making way for 16/under captain and batting all-rounder Matt Harris to make his first eleven debut.

Harris made an unbeaten 39 and took three wickets against Ballan in the seconds last round.

Coach Adrian Harris said there was no question that Point had to find something extra with the bat.

He said their season opener against Darley had not gone anywhere near as well as they had hoped, with opener Andrew Falkner being the only shining light with the bat.

The ball dominated the bat in last season's grand final, with neither Golden Point or Brown Hill getting to 200 in four innings. That was when players and conditions were at their best.

Right now everyone is underdone and they will be stepping out onto the Eastern Oval wicket for the first time. Golden Point is looking little fragile right now.

PREDICTION: Brown Hill

DARLEY v BALLARAT-REDAN

at Darley Park

SEASON RECORD

DARLEY (3rd): one win, one draw

BALLARAT-REDAN (4th): one win, one draw

SELECTED TEAMS:

DARLEY: Heath Pritchard (c), Lachlan Herring, Matthew Cape, Bradley Barnes, Zac Ticehurst, Jake Wilkie, Drew Locke, Dayle Locke, Sajith Rupasingha, Hasitha Wickramasinghe, David Hoey

BALLARAT-REDAN: Jayden Hayes (c), Robert Hind, Anthony Taylor, Billy Jones, Taylor Sutton, Lucas Hodgetts, Michael Snaith, Will Griffiths, Simon Allan, Brendan Thomson, Lachlan Snaith

DARLEY: just as they did last season the Lions opened their campaign with a win over a reigning premier - Golden Point in this case. Captain Heath Pritchard was delighted, especially with the comfort the win was achieved. Darley was never really stretched in chasing down 134 as it saluted with six overs to spare and Sri Lankan all-rounder Hasitha Wickramasinghe could hardly have been more impressive first-up. The only downside was an injury to David Hoey, although he has been selected this week. Darley has had the best preparation of anyone in the competition with plenty of time preparing on turf. This again gives it the frontrunning.

BALLARAT-REDAN: what a start for new young skipper Jayden Hayes - leading the Two Swords to victory to open the season. It could hardly have been closer, with one wicket and a few balls to spare. This game will be a stark contrast, with the youthful batting line-up led by the experienced Bobby Hind facing a stern test in a battle which might decide the game.

PREDICTION: Darley

WENDOUREE v NORTH BALLARAT

at City Oval

SEASON RECORD

WENDOUREE (1st): one win, one draw

NORTH BALLARAT (6th): one loss, bye

SELECTED TEAMS

WENDOUREE: Cole Roscholler (c), Heath Pyke, Liam Brady, Craig Jenkins, Gavin Webb, Tom Le Lievre, Sam Jackson, Austen Prendergast, Thomas Godson, Dylan Price, Matt Smith

NORTH BALLARAT: Jacob Coxall, Blake McPhan, Matthew Zakynthinos, Matthew Skeemer, Hugh McGregor, Jesse Mannington, Ray Dumesny, Samuel Burns, Thomas Phillippe, Jason Crosbie, Matthew Cations

WENDOUREE: everyone goes through change and the Red Caps' attack has done just that in a big way. Sam Jackson is getting another chance and has stepped up with youngster Tom Godson and emerging Tom Le Lievre - making Austen Prendergast the most experienced. Captain Cole Roscheller is confident the new combination, which is packed with self-belief, can do the job.

NORTH BALLARAT: if a heavy loss was not enough in round two, losing captain-coach and leading all-rounder Adam Eddy to a side strain has really hurt. Eddy is a steadying influence with bat and ball, and his absence is going to put plenty of extra pressure on stalwarts Jason Crosbie, Matt Cations and Matt Zakynthinos. Eddy said despite the one-side nature of its clash with Mt Clear, there were some positives, such as the performances of English imports Tom Phillippe and Matt Skeemer, but the Roosters face a task.

PREDICTION: Wendouree

EAST BALLARAT v NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL

at Russell Square (turf)

SEASON RECORD

EAST BALLARAT (9th): one loss, one draw

NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL (5th): one draw, one bye

SELECTED TEAMS

EAST BALLARAT: Joshua Brown (c), Charles Murrie, Harli Givvens, Bradley Whittaker, David Merryweather, Adrian Burn, Carl Haseloff, Harry Ganley, Shane Gray, Cameron Carter, Oliver Hayes

NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL: Matthew Ringin (c), Bradley Carrigg, Neil Chalmers, Jacob Eyers, Jack Goosens, Jonah Healey, Callum Honeyman, Joseph Lynch, Liam Rigby, Justin Ringin, Daniel Scott

EAST BALLARAT: unless there is a dramatically quick turnaround, East is already looking at a long campaign. Admittedly, Wendouree is one of the toughest assignments in the competition and a loss to the Red Caps was no surprise. However, the magnitude of it was a concern as East failed to reach 100. This game does provide some hope with Napoleons-Sebastopol having its first outing, but improvement is still essential.

NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL: it has been a long time coming for Naps-Sebas, which with season five weeks old finally gets on the park. It looks to a line up a little stronger with the return of experienced Dan Scott and highly talented all-rounder Liam Rigby, and arrival of Callum Honeyman from England to play under the leadership Matt Ringin. It is an ideal first-up fixture too, with this being a game it must win if it is to make something out of the season.

PREDICTION: Napoleons-Sebastopol