WITH three consecutive top-of-the-ladder finishes, but no silverware to show for its home and away dominance, there's no shortage of motivation for Spring Gully heading into the 2021-22 Emu Valley Cricket Association season.
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The Crows have won 31 of 40 games over their past three minor premiership seasons, but come the business end have suffered a grand final defeat to Sedgwick in 2018-19 and semi-final losses to Emu Creek and arch-rival United the past two years.
So how do the Crows plan to go about taking that next step this year and getting the job done when it counts like they last did in 2017-18 when they beat Sedgwick in the grand final?
"We probably think the batting side of things will need to pick up a bit," Spring Gully captain Alex Sutton said.
"It's probably the bowling that has kept us in some games over the past few seasons and it's the batting that has let us down at times.
"We're going to try a few different things throughout the season just to see what the best mix is... my mentality is I would rather try something different and get it wrong then get to the finals and just do the same thing and get the same result as the past few years.
"And it felt like last season a lot of guys didn't necessarily have designated roles within the side and that's something I'll look to change. And we'll look forward to giving more development opportunities for guys like Tommy Perrin and Isaac Willits."
Former skipper Sutton has taken over the captaincy from James Fox and is confident his side's depth will hold the Crows in good stead again.
"If you look through our side we've got guys batting at 8, 9 and 10 who could easily be batting higher, so that's something I'm keen to explore as well," Sutton said.
Again arguably the biggest scalp in the competition will be Spring Gully coach Rhys Webb, who has been a run machine in his five years at the Crows.
The reigning EVCA Player of the Year, Webb has plundered 3225 runs at an average of 54.6 with 11 centuries since joining the Crows in 2016-17.
He blasted 797 last season, more than double that of Spring Gully's next best batman, Jesse Marciano (348).
While Webb will hold a major key to Spring Gully's premiership aspirations again, the Crows do have a host of players capable of impacting significantly with the bat, including Marciano, Sutton, Brannon Stanford, Lachlan Brook and Joel Bish.
"I think we can be very competitive this year, and hopefully, we can play good, consistent cricket and step up when we need to in March," said Sutton, who has been with the Crows since 2014-15.
The Crows have a home game first-up this Saturday against California Gully.
SEASON FIXTURE:
ROUND 1 - November 13
v California Gully (h)
............................................
ROUND 2 - November 20
v West Bendigo (h)
............................................
ROUND 3 - November 27
v Axe Creek (a)
............................................
ROUND 4 - December 4
v Mandurang (a)
............................................
ROUND 5 - December 11
v Sedgwick (a)
............................................
ROUND 6 - December 18
Bye
............................................
ROUND 7 - January 8
v Marong (h)
............................................
ROUND 8 - January 15
v Emu Creek (a)
............................................
ROUND 9 - January 22
v United (h)
............................................
ROUND 10 - January 29
v California Gully (a)
............................................
ROUND 11 - February 5
v West Bendigo (a)
............................................
ROUND 12 - February 12
v Axe Creek (h)
............................................
ROUND 13 - February 19
v Sedgwick (h)
............................................
ROUND 14 - February 26
Bye
............................................
ROUND 15 - March 5
v Marong (a)
............................................
ROUND 16 - March 12
v Emu Creek (h)
LAST SEASON FLASHBACK:
Finished - 3rd
Record - 11-3-3, 1.69%
Batting rank - 3rd
Bowling rank - 1st
............................................
Leading run-scorers:
797 - Rhys Webb
348 - Jesse Marciano
237 - Alex Sutton
214 - Brannon Stanford
180 - Lachlan Brook
129 - Joel Bish
............................................
Leading wicket-takers:
22 - Rhys Webb
19 - Beauden Rinaldi
16 - Nick Skeen
14 - Alex Sutton
12 - Byron Perrin
9 - Shaun O'Shea
............................................
Leading MVP points:
1322 - Rhys Webb
577 - Alex Sutton
513 - Beauden Rinaldi
493 - Jesse Marciano
403 - Byron Perrin
402 - Nick Skeen
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS SINCE 2006:
v Axe Creek
Won: 7 Lost: 3 Tied: 1
............................................
v California Gully
Won: 10 Lost: 5
............................................
v Emu Creek
Won: 11 Lost: 4
............................................
v Mandurang
Won: 12 Lost: 8
............................................
v Marong
Won: 10 Lost: 5
............................................
v Sedgwick
Won: 9 Lost: 9
............................................
v United
Won: 8 Lost: 15
............................................
v West Bendigo
Won: 9 Lost: 6
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