Diggers T20 captain Jason Hampel (left) and Coro skipper Haydn Pascoe will lock horns tonight in the Don “Captain” Coleman Twenty20 Shield final.
Diggers T20 captain Jason Hampel (left) and Coro skipper Haydn Pascoe will lock horns tonight in the Don “Captain” Coleman Twenty20 Shield final.
Cricket
THESE two sides just can't seem to get away from each other.
In three of the last four major local finals the Coro Cougars and Diggers have butted heads, forging one of Griffith cricket's fiercest rivalries.
And tonight, their habit in meeting in big matches continues at Exies No.1 in the Don 'Captain' Coleman Twenty20 Shield decider.
It is the first piece of silverware on offer this season, and Cougars captain Haydn Pascoe is set on reversing a worrying trend that has seen his side on the wrong end of defeats in their last three finals against Diggers.
It all started in the 2010-11 first-grade final, when Diggers claimed a 104-run win over Coro to break a 21-year premiership drought.
One year later, and they were at it again knocking off the Cougars in an absolute heartstopper to win a second straight two-day title, and then also in the Peter Davis One Day Cup final for good measure.
Pascoe is over it, and desperate to return fire by claiming T20 honours at Diggers' expense.
"I don't like losing at any time to anyone, but to the same people three times - it's frustrating," he said.
"A final is a final. You don't want to lose, especially against these guys. We've got a bit of a history there. We don't want to go into the two-day finals after another loss to them."
Not that the status quo bothers Diggers T20 captain Jason Hampel.
"It's always good to play Coro in the finals," he joked.
"But it's a bit different now. Our side is probably not the same as the last couple of years but it's still a good bunch of blokes.
"When it's time for someone to stand up in our side, someone always does, so our success has been pretty much a team effort."
For Coro to avoid history repeating, Pascoe said all his side needs is one player to be the stick in the mud so the rest of the Cougars' big bashers can pile on the hurt.
"In the last few (T20) games we've been scoring about 120-odd and had one batsman bat the whole innings and get about 60," he said.
"That's the key - getting someone to bat the full 20 overs and have people bat around them."
What: Don ‘Captain’ Coleman
Twenty20 Shield
• Who: Diggers v Coro
• Where: Exies No.1
• When: 6.30pm tonight