Cricket to be a cracker as teams gear up for grudge match
AS THE president of the Clarence River Cricket Association, Tom Howard is desperate to recover the bragging rights for his association from Mayor Richie Williamson.
With the two teams settled before tomorrow's President's XI v Mayor's XI Australia Day T20 cricket clash at Ellem Oval, Tom is adamant there will be no repeat of the 2012 game played to open the new pavilion.
"The only way we can go is up and the only way they can go is down," the confident president said.
But a cock-a-hoop mayor would have nothing of it, claiming just as brazenly that "he had them covered".
"I've got one of the best cricket brains on the Clarence in Tim McMahon leading my troops," Richie said.
"His knowledge of the game and the talent at his disposal should be more than enough to do the job."
Tom is adamant his team can turn the tables. "We'll do our talking with the bat and ball," he said.
"We've picked a team purely on form, so I know these fellows can do the job.
"We've got some fresh ideas and they've got the experience playing in the shorter forms of the game."
The mayor is predicting a big future for this clash and is working toward making it a feature of future Australia Day celebrations.
"What is more Australian than a game of cricket?" he said. "In the future we'll be looking to get more businesses involved and sponsoring things like prizes for crowd catches and other novelties."
The action begins at 10am tomorrow with a T20 game between two teams of the Valley's best under-16 players. The seniors game is scheduled to start at 2pm.
There will also be a citizenship ceremony for three new Australians during the break.
