[door de redactie] Rod Lyall en Bertus de Jong van Tkcricket met een Round 10-preview, onder meer over Topklasse (mede)aanvoerder ACC1 uit tegen het onderaan staande VRA. Te spelen in het bos zondag (meer previews hier). Observer: kwam dat ooit eerder voor? En met wisselende voorspellingen van de cricketscribenten voor de derby. En niet alleen voor dat treffen. ‘’With the season half-done, the traditional opening fixture reversal is upon us.’’Vanwege Oranje-verplichtingen mist ACC helaas captain Saqib, maar VRA moet het zonder pro batman/bowler Cooper doen.
Bertus de Jong: Also skipperless will be table-toppers ACC when they make the short trip down the Kalfjeslaan to take on runaway wooden spoon favourites VRA. Whilst losing captain and lead wicket-taker Saqib Zulfiqar is a blow for ACC, VRA will probably miss Ben Cooper at least as much. The VRA batting has been shaky all season and taking Cooper out of it leaves a hole they don’t have the bench strength to fill, and these days deprives them of their second spinner too. That Cooper’s admittedly perfectly serviceable off-spin is so regularly called upon by skipper Peter Borren is itself a testament to the paucity of VRA’s bowling stocks, whilst Borren’s own return to the captaincy suggests that the threat of relegation is perhaps now being taken seriously at the Bos.
Rod Lyall: If a serious relegation-avoiding campaign is to get under way at VRA, there could be no more satisfying spot to begin it than the traditional Amsterdam derby. It’s been a long time since these clubs went into the fixture with ACC top of the table and VRA bottom, and it must be acknowledged that both positions are a fair reflection of the sides’ efforts so far. ACC, like HCC, have been the surprise-packets of the season until now, and logic says that they will take another step towards their title goal on Sunday. But this is the Topklasse, and if anyone can craft a win from nowhere it’s Peter Borren.
Bertus de Jong’s picks: Dosti, Excelsior, VCC, HCC, ACC.
Rod Lyall’s picks: Dosti, Quick, VCC, HCC, VRA.
