Bennell, Kennedy, Khan the keys to ultimate success for their teams in EGCA A-grade competition

The individual brilliance of three players may well determine the ultimate outcome of this season’s Eastern Goldfields Cricket Association A-grade competition.

Reigning O’Shaughnessy medallist Graham Kennedy, his Hannans teammate Aarib Tareen Khan, and previous O’Shaugnessy medallist and Goldfields Sports Star of the Year Beven Bennell of Great Boulder each have the ability to significantly influence the outcome of matches with both bat and ball.

Their primary danger lies in their ability to bat their opposition out of matches.

Bennell has done this twice in the first half the A-grade season with destructive centuries — 102 not out off 94 balls against North Kalgoorlie in round five, and 101 not out off 61 balls in round eight against the same opposition.

Bennell has been out only twice in his six innings to date, and boasts an average of 152.5 from 305 runs scored.

His average against Norths is 204, having been dismissed for one run in their round-two clash — his first game of the season after not playing in round one.

Kennedy has rampaged his way to a century once — 101 not out off 75 balls in round six against Great Boulder, a match in which Bennell scored only 20.

Kennedy has scored 294 runs in seven innings at an average of 58.8.

English import Khan, in his first season in the Eastern Goldfields, has not yet passed the century mark — but has come close with innings of 96 and 97, which augurs well for a strong second half of the season.

His 96 in round three against Great Boulder was off 114 balls, and his 97 in round seven against North Kalgoorlie was off 129 balls.

So he’s a slower scorer than Bennell and Kennedy, but both his near-centuries came in games that were victories to Hannans, meaning he could prove the defiant difference in a tight match between the teams if the other two fail to score big.

Khan has 281 runs from six innings at an average of 46.8.

Significantly, each player can also make a contribution with the ball — Kennedy has twice taken three-wicket bags, and Bennell once.

Khan took two wickets in his first match of the season in round two but has not been required much since with strike bowlers such as Harry Merritt-Blann (18 wickets at 12.22), George Hannington-Hodge (11 at 24.18), and Harrison Wheatcroft (10 at 21.7) leading the way.

Other batters with the potential to make an impression in the second half of the season include Great Boulder’s Waqar ali Ahmed (245 runs at 40.8), Norths’ Michael Noble (183 at 30.5), and Lake View’s Matt Carter (173 at 24.7).

Carter, in particular, can destroy an opposition bowling attack on his day.

Going into the Christmas-New Year break, Hannans lead after the first eight rounds with a 5-2 win-loss record for 22 points, Great Boulder (4-3) are second with 18 points, Lake View (3-4) are third on 14, and defending premiers North Kalgoorlie (2-5) are fourth with 10 points.

The A-grade competition resumes on January 11 for a solitary round before country week occupies the focus of the players.

Battle then continues in earnest across rounds 10-15 from February 1 to March 15 before the finals series takes place.