The cruel stroke that cost Leongatha Imperials a place in the finals

THERE’S been a sensational finish to the Leongatha and District Cricket Association season and Leongatha Imperials have missed out on playing in the prestigious A Grade Division One finals for all the wrong reasons.

Instead, Outtrim Moyarra Kongwak, which was on the way to losing its last round match against Leongatha Town, and tumbling out of the final four at the last moment, have retained their place in the four ultimately because of the heat.

Needing 325 to pass Leongatha Town and protect their place in the four, OMK looked to be going along well at various stages in the afternoon, especially while captain Koby Brann 54 and the stoic Tom Wyatt 83 not out were at the crease but the loss of Brann in the middle of the afternoon injected an unwanted element of instability in the chase and by drinks, Town was on its way to victory with OMK 7/220 still needing more than 100 runs but with only three wickets in hand.

But then, disaster for Imperials’ hopes of climbing back into the four on the back of the demolition of ladder leaders Phillip Island the week before.

With the weather oppressive throughout the day, and then reaching up towards the heat-out level of 38 degrees, the association appointed umpire in the Town versus OMK game, Ash Stride, was overcome with heatstroke and the captains both agreed that it was better not to go on with the game.

Whether or not another umpire could have been found to replace him is not known.

It has also been reported that several players also felt sick with the heat.

LDCA Secretary Ken Scrimshaw confirmed on Saturday evening that the association had accepted the situation and declared the semi-finalists for next week, Phillip Island versus OMK at a venue to be named, and Wonthaggi versus Leongatha Town, also at a venue to be named.

President of the Leongatha Imperials Cricket Club Kristin Gray said the club was bitterly disappointed with the outcome.

“The umpire has been affected with heatstroke, so you can’t do anything about that but it’s terribly disappointing for our players for the season to end like that,” said Gray on Saturday night.

“Obviously we hope he’s alright but after a season of tough cricket, and to think your team has come through and done enough, especially what they did last week, we really felt we deserved a place in the final. We did deserve to be in the finals,” he said.

“It’s terribly disappointing for our blokes.”

The Imperials A Grade Division One side was constantly in touch with the game at Leongatha, while they played Phillip Island at Newhaven chasing the unlikely outright result that would have secured their finals’ berth but the villain of the Sharks’ first innings of 37, Brodie Johnston, became the hero of the Island’s second innings when he raised his bat for a century, after opening at a precarious time the week before.

He went on to make 133 off 199 balls and with several of his mates playing their part, they batted Imps out of any chance of an outright, finishing the day with 5/206 off 75 overs, a good effort in the field by Imps but not enough to get them over the sensational abandonment of the game at Scorpion Park.

Kristin Gray has played  and seen enough cricket to be well aware of the ups and downs the sport can thrown at participants but he acknowledged that missing the 2023-24 finals in A Grade Division One had been a bitter pill for the club to swallow.