Whalers must restore some pride

Albany & Districts Cricket Association captain Mitch Green said his side will be out to restore some pride when they host Peel Cricket Association in Sunday’s Country Cup dead rubber fixture.

Both associations have failed to win a game from their first two fixtures leaving them out of contention to reach the grand final at the WACA. Albany fell just short against the WA Invitational XI and were thrashed by Bunbury two weeks ago.

Green said his side had to regain respect.

“Pretty important game for us really,” he said. “Pride will be on the line with both sides being winless and obviously both sides will be trying to avoid potential relegation.

“The association side is in a period of transition — we have lost some quality cricketers from the competition so we are now trying to find the next crop of players coming through,” he said.

“It’s about finding that mix between experience and youth and letting those young players develop under experienced players like (Nathan) Dovey, (Nathan) Crudeli and (Jeremy) Wood.

“We will be rewarding the guys that have made themselves available whilst also providing an opportunity to a couple of players.”

Green said the team hadn’t been finalised for this week’s fixture but he expected a strong side that can put a strong total together.

“We simply haven’t made enough runs in both games,” he said. “We have lost wickets in clumps which hasn’t helped so the onus will be on the top six to get the job done, build partnerships and put a good score on the board.”

In ADCA action on Saturday, Railways and Manypeaks face off in a grand final rematch at Turf South.

Peaks sit six points clear of the Tigers but the two sides are yet to taste defeat in 2019-20.

Mt Barker and Collingwood Park will look to bounce back to the winners list when they do battle at Sounness Park while Royals clash with the winless Denmark at Turf North.