By Lance Jenkinson
Taylors Lakes abruptly exited the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association finals amid a gory scene.
The Lions suffered defeat at the hands of a Williamstown side much further along in its development, all the while having to witness a bloodied captain Jarrod Wakeling get treatment on a fractured and dislocated ring finger that saw bone broke through the skin.
Another skipper might have abandoned ship, but Wakeling decided to stay on the ground, despite being in obvious pain.
Following his injury from backing up a throw in the field, Wakeling went on to bowl more overs, but once the adrenalin died down after stumps, he found himself in a spot of bother.
“Last night it was pretty tender,” Wakeling said after spending Saturday night in hospital.
“I got it all straightened out and this morning it was cleaned out and fixed up. They took out some pieces of bone that were floating around in there.
“There was a couple of boys at the club that didn’t like blood. It was relatively graphic and a few were a bit squirmish.”
The pain of the finger injury was not as bad for Wakeling as the result of the game.
Taylors Lakes was handed a finals lesson by Williamstown, beaten by seven wickets in a one-sided game at the Williamstown Cricket Ground.
The Lions probably lost the game at the toss of the coin, forced to bat in conditions that were not ideal.
Wakeling was not using it as an excuse though, knowing his side’s 83 was nowhere near the mark needed.
“We lost the toss and they had the better conditions to bowl on with the pitch being a little bit soft,” he said.
“Credit where credit is due, they bowled exceptionally well and we just probably weren’t quite up to their standard.
“Only making 83 against a side like Williamstown is always going to be a tough ask.”
Williamstown’s passed the target three down in just 24.4 overs.
It was as comprehensive as finals victories go.
While they will be hurting now, the Taylors Lakes youngsters will look back on the game as a key reference point in their careers.
“They’ve got players that have been there and done it in the past and are still performing well,” Wakeling said.
“They’re a professional outfit, they’ve got the experience and going up against a pretty young side, it kind of stacked against us from the get-go, but it’s good learning for us.
“Our young guys took a lot out of the game.”
