From one extreme to the other – after sitting on the sidelines last week with the bye, Wangaratta Magpies are faced with possibly their biggest challenge of the season this weekend.
Fresh off an early-season break, the Magpies are back in action on Saturday, heading up the Great Alpine Road to take on an extremely strong Ovens Valley United outfit on their home deck.
The teams match up remarkably well, with both boasting big hitting, depth batting, and a number of talented bowlers.
Both the Magpies and Tigers are undefeated in 2025/26, setting the stage for a high-stakes game of cricket at Myrtleford’s McNamara Reserve.
For the Magpies, it will be about nullifying the influence Ovens Valley’s Geeth Alwis has on the game with bat and ball.
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Alwis made a half century in his opening game, before thumping 155* last weekend, and looks in some serious form with the ball, having picked up three wickets in both games played so far.
Wangaratta Magpies skipper Cooper Matheson said Alwis was the big wicket his bowlers would be chasing.
“Geeth’s a very talented cricketer, he just knows how to bat and not lose his head or anything, he’s got a very good temperament,” he said.
“We’ll have to bowl really well to him, probably have our own plan set to bowling around him.
“I think our boys are more than up to the task, we’re up for the challenge.”
Matheson said the week off gave his team plenty of time to prepare.
“It was good, a few of them played A res as well, Nick Stebnyckyj played twos to get a bit of an extra hit because he missed the week before and made runs,” he said.
“As a batting side, we’ve got a lot of aggressive batsmen.
“Early on in the day we’ll be looking to put the pressure back on the opposition side.
“Bowling-wise, we’ve got a few good strike bowlers, especially early, like ‘Clemmo’ [Chris Clement], Frase Ellis is still to come back in, ‘Killa’ [David Killen], so we’re happy with our bowling unit.”
The Magpies take on Ovens Valley United on Saturday at McNamara Reserve.
The A reserve competition is also in action, while the rest of the senior grades, and all of the juniors, take the weekend off.
