BCA First XI semi final preview: East Ballarat and Mount Clear back in finals frame

With all the chops and changes to the Ballarat Cricket Association competition after it was reduced to a nine-team competition, amazingly it has meant these two sides have yet to face off against each other, with their only scheduled contest one of the many wash outs in the early part of the season.

The fixturing adds a little bit more intrigue to the contest with neither side really able to rely on their strengths and weaknesses this time around.

So it becomes the battle within the battle that will likely determine who will go on to face either Darley and East Ballarat in the grand final next weekend.

The biggest battle of all looms as the match-up between last up century makers Cole Roscholler of Wendouree and Thomas Le Lievre from Mount Clear.

For more than a decade, Roscholler has led the Red Caps batting, but even he would be hard pressed to find a better performance than the one he produced last round when he scorched his way to 191 against Buninyong.

This week, Roscholler was also named captain of the club's team of the decade, a rich reward for a run machine who has led his team to ongoing success.

While Roscholler dominates for one side, this week's opponent has another of the key batters of the season with Thomas Le Lievre showing his best form at exactly the right time of the year.

Le Lievre smacked an unbeaten 106 last up against Ballarat-Redan, leading his team back into the finals after a disappointing 2021-22 season where the Mounties won just three matches.

For both teams, this match presents the opportunity to return to where both of them believe they belong with both Golden Point and Darley having dominated the grand final positions in recent seasons.

The Red Caps have a point to prove having been on top of the ladder, only to miss grand finals in recent years.

Skipper Matt Begbie said he was excited to get another finals opportunity.

"You always strive to play finals and we want to play our best cricket, here's hoping we can do that," he said.

He said while it was unusual not to have played an opponent leading into a finals match, the teams still knew plenty about each other.

"We've played a lot against Mount Clear over the years and obviously a lot of their stalwarts are playing some great cricket this year, the rivalry is still there," he said.

"They've always been a strong club, they're well led and have had a number of players that have had a strong year and that holds them in good stead for this time of the year."

The elephant in the room is undoubtedly Wendouree's recent poor finals record with Begbie hoping the longer format of two-day matches as opposed to one-day finals will play into the Red Caps hands this time around.

The Red Caps have gone down in semis to the eventual champions in Golden Point and Darley the past two seasons.

"Semis are always hard to win, and without selling the opposition in those matches short, I've felt we've had our chances to win in those games," Begbie said.

"We've got to stick to our plan this year in two-day cricket, it's a different element. We know what can hold up this time of year.

"Two day cricket is a different ball game. You get that longer contest where things can be a little more controlled, here's hoping that can work in our favour."

WITH a tough draw at the start of the season, East Ballarat knew if had to come out swinging, and a nine-wicket opening round win over Darley provided the perfect platform fro a successful First XI season.

From there the Hawks' season has built, culminating in last round's thumping win over Napoleons-Sebastopol, a match that secured finals, while also knocking out the opposition, a team that had sat inside the top four since the first week.

It was the bowlers who led the way brilliantly, rolling Naps-Sebas for just 62, with Lewis Hogins and Adam Eddy taking nine wickets between them.

Eddy, who took 4-15 off 11 overs said the Hawks were determined to make up for just missing out on the finals last season.

"The confidence had been building, we'd come off a really good game against Brown Hill the previous week and we've had a fair bit of cricket since Christmas which has allowed us to build nicely to be ready for now," he said.

The semi-final opponent is about as tough as it gets with perennial pace-setters Darley looming.

These two sides have met twice this year with East's opening round win tempered somewhat in what was arguably the club's worst performance of the season in round eight when a Dilan Chandima century led Darley to a 158-run win.

Darley coach Brian Wheelahan said he hopes that the experience of three successive grand final appearances for his club will hold it in good stead this weekend.

"It's game on, in both finals to be honest," he said. "We've got enormous respect for what East have done.

"Anyone can get you if you're off and we'll definitely have to be at our best to get across the line."

Wheelahan said the two-day format of the finals, as opposed to the one-dayers of recent seasons will showcase the best of both teams.

The weekend's clashes are at Wendouree Turf for the Wendouree versus Mount Clear contest, while Darley and East Ballarat will meet at Eastern Oval.

DARLEY: Ben Longhurst(c), Bradley Barnes, Andrew Pickett, Drew Locke, Mitchell Ward, Rockey Hoey, Dayle Locke, Dilan Chandima, Hasitha Wickramasinghe, Madushanka Ekanayaka, Danza Hyatt, Shaun McAndrew

EAST BALLARAT: Jacob Eyers(c), Adam Eddy, Tristan Dixon, Harli Givvens, Chris Jerram, Harry Ganley, Joshua Brown, Hayden Walters, Abhilasha Rodrigo, Lewis Hodgins, Rory Low, Luke Hodgson

MOUNT CLEAR: Jarrod Burns (c), Jacob Smith, Thomas Le Lievre, Grant Trevenen, Nathan Yates, Ashley George, Steven Nicholson, Matt Goonan, Zack Maple, Joel Moriarty, Jack Jeffrey, John Butler

WENDOUREE: Mathew Begbie(c), Thomas Godson, Heath Pyke, Ryan Simmonds, Tom Batters, Brandon Weatherson, Tristan Maple, Liam Brady, Sam Peeters, Cole Roscholler, Ashley McCafferty, Liam Wood