As the weather threatened to ruin a second straight week of Haisman Shield cricket, the rain eased off enough for Euroa and Mooroopna to take to the Euroa Friendly Society Recreation Reserve field.
The Magpies won the toss and elected to bat as the skies momentarily cleared for the round eight Cricket Shepparton fixture.
Euroa young gun Walter Jackson was dismissed in the first over by Barrow.
Ash Ellis and Vaughan Kirk soon departed as the home side was left scrambling on 3-21 after 10 overs.
A-grade veteran Scott Hamilton (24 runs off 43 balls) and Nic Hill (33 off 77) stepped up and steadied the ship for Euroa.
The Magpies found their rhythm during the middle part of Saturday’s play, sitting on 4-90.
However, three wickets in four overs from Mooroopna tweaker-and-turners Jack Gaskill and Ethan Baker left Euroa on 7-97.
After 34.5 overs the rain came tumbling down as the two sides watched the rest of the day from the sheds.
Mooroopna coach Barrow said it was a pity the weather cancelled the day’s play just as his side looked primed to run through the Euroa tail.
“We did well to get on in the morning when we did because there was some rain about in the morning as well,” Barrow said.
“When we did get on I felt like we were on top for the majority of the day.
“Unfortunately, then the rain came and we weren’t able to tie up the innings in the end, which is a shame because we could have been in a really good position and had a bat last night.”
Barrow said that while the pitch looked tough to bat on early, there was enough there for the batters and bowlers.
“The ground out there is fantastic, the curators do a fantastic job of it, it is probably the most picturesque ground in the league,” he said.
“Early on, I thought myself and Corey Meyer bowled pretty well with the new ball.
“Then they had a couple of bats in the middle that did pretty well and they put on a decent partnership.
“Then our two spinners, Jack and Ethan, came on and bowled really well.
“There was a decent amount of turn in the wicket and when they came on they put the game into our favour and then the heavens opened.”
After it was realised no more action would take place on Saturday, Barrow said there was some confusion as to how the following weekend’s play would unfold.
Do Euroa still get to bat the full 80 overs or is it going to turn into a shorter structured match?
Barrow said he expected that to be clarified early in the week.
“On the day we didn’t know, Euroa didn’t know and the umpire didn’t know, so we will find out the process over the coming days,” he said.
“The umpire wasn’t sure of the rules — it’s a bit of a grey area in the ruling.
“Hopefully, it is just ordinary rules and we can knock them off early, get their score and have another crack at them.
“Otherwise it will just go to a one-dayer and we will look to start again.”
THE GAME
Euroa 7-101 (Nic Hill 33, Henry Barrow 2-10, Ethan Baker 2-13) lead Mooroopna (yet to bat)
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