Hamwicks go all out to get on and chase unlikely finals berth

Torrential rain midweek and showers on Friday washed out day one of the penultimate round except at Passmore Oval, where play started at 2.30pm.

Needing outright points (10) to push for an unlikely finals spot, Hamwicks were sent in and scored 5-204 declared in 55 overs against winless Toronto. Englishman Will Frais top-scored with 62 not out, while Matt Webber was 50 unbeaten. Toronto finished 1-8 at stumps off seven overs.

Hamwicks sit on 35 points, 14 points off the top four, while Toronto are winless on five. Hamwicks skipper Ben Balcomb was happy just to get on.

"We worked hard all week to have covers on, but there were a few leaks and that's why we started late," Balcomb said. "Credit to Toronto as well. They were keen to play and weren't too fussed we were waiting around. Both teams wanted to play some cricket.

"[Making finals] is unlikely, given where the table is at with only two rounds left. We need a lot of results to go our way, but we thought we may as well give it a crack and see where we finish up."

"It was a good start with the bat on a tricky wicket yesterday. It wasn't wet but with all the weather around, it didn't have as much preparation as it normally would. I thought we did really well to get to 200.

"For me, there's no difference between coming eighth and fifth. You need to get in that top four and we need 10 points to give ourselves a chance in that last round."

Hamwicks play third-placed Charlestown (58 points) in the last round.

This round Charlestown are hosting Wallsend (49 points), Merewether (36) are at home against Stockton (60), Newcastle (61) are away against Belmont (31), Uni (30) welcome Wests (33) and Waratah-Mayfield (26) travel to Cardiff-Boolaroo (47).