Footscray Edgewater to meet Essendon in Bartercard Premier Cricket Final

In their first ever Premier Cricket grand final encounter, both clubs will be looking to break their premiership droughts, with Essendon claiming their last flag in 1969-70 and Footscray Edgewater in 1979-80.

Footscray Edgewater’s side will boast Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers John Hastings and Guy Walker along with the competition’s leading wicket-taker Jake Haberfield (53 wickets) and captain Dean Russ (811 runs), who both earned state selection throughout the season.

Finishing the season in second position, the team’s semi-final win over Geelong was spearheaded by pace duo Hastings and Haberfield, scalping nine wickets between them to snare victory.

“The two (Hastings and Haberfield) are professional and experienced cricketers that understand the game,” Footscray Edgewater coach Steve Chapman said.

“Dean Russ’ leadership has also been outstanding this year and he has grown as cricketer.

“We’ll head into the final fresh, optimistic and prepared as I’m sure Essendon will.”

Opponents Essendon booked their place in the final with a surprise semi-final win over minor premiers St Kilda.

“It’s been pretty amazing and we’ve built momentum over the year,” Essendon coach Brendan Joyce said.

“They had a couple of first-class players, so it was good to stand up against a quality side.”

The Bushrangers’ Clint McKay, who will go head-to-head with paceman teammate Hastings, led the charge in last weekend’s victory, with an unbeaten 61 and figures of 4-46.

McKay will be joined by Bushrangers teammate Louis Cameron (25 wickets), the Melbourne Renegades’ Solomon Mire (599 runs) along with the club’s leading wicket-taker Matt Doric (34 wickets) and the competition’s third top run-scorer Aaron Ayre (882 runs) in the hunt for premiership glory.

“We’ll need all 11 players to contribute in some way over the weekend for us to win,” Joyce said.

“Being able to compete at every ball, every minute and every contest as well as sticking to the game plan will be the key.”

The three-day final commences tomorrow at 10:30am at the Junction Oval with updates on Bartercard Premier Cricket’s Twitter account (@vicpremcricket).

The 13-man squads are:

Footscray Edgewater
Dean Russ (c)
Anthony Barton
Travis Dean
Shanuka Dissanayaka
Lucas Dredge
Senam Gautum
John Hastings
Dylan Kight
Jake Haberfield
Michael Hill
Michael Kelly
Guy Walker
Hamish Winter-Irving

Essendon
Ben MacRae (c)
Aaron Ayre
Louis Cameron
Matt Doric
Josh Eaton
Clint McKay
Brent McMinn
Shane McNamara
Solomon Mire
Nishal Perera
James Seymour
Aaron Shellie
Fletcher Stewart