Robbo high in praise for Warwick skipper
CRICKET: Shaun "Robbo” O'Leary remembers the excitement of winning the Davis Shield final in the 2008/2009 season.
He was captain for the win against Stanthorpe in the final early in 2009 and along with Andrew Ryan backed up to win a second Davis Shield final on Sunday.
Warwick beat Lockyer by 94 runs on Sunday to win the shield and make it three wins from three games this season.
Looking back on the 2009 final, O'Leary said the Stanthorpe batting was in early trouble just like Lockyer on Sunday.
"Lyndon McGrath got a quick 70 or 80 to put Stanthorpe back in the game but in the end Warwick won,” he said.
"It is nice to see the good young talent coming through in the Warwick team and to win a second final with almost a totally different team.
"Captain Dave Walker has done a really good job building a team culture under his leadership, we all want to play in Dave's team.
"Dave wanted to take himself off after conceding nins runs in his first over on Sunday but we convinced him to keep bowling and he took four wickets in his next three overs before lunch.”
O'Leary doesn't write down the results from every game he plays but reckons he has played in five Davis Shield finals and won two.
MATCH REPORT FROM SUNDAY:
BATTING first on Sunday at Slade Park, Warwick made 6-197 and for the second week in succession decimated the Lockyer batting before lunch.
Captain Dave Walker was aiming for a score of 200 and said a feature of the win was how a number of batsmen chipped in. Ben Heppell top-scored with 41, Andrew Ryan made 37, Lachlan Gross 32, Tom Bourke 22 and Walker himself an unbeaten 20 as he added 14 for the seventh wicket with Shaun O'Leary.
"I wanted runs on the board to put scoreboard pressure on Lockyer,” Walker said.
"Close to 200 was a good score as the pitch was a bit damp at the northern end.”
For the second week running, Warwick destroyed Lockyer in a short period before lunch.
Walker took four wickets and Lachlan Gross secured a run out for Warwick as Lockyer was 5-25 off eight overs at lunch.
Fergus Connolly only conceded seven runs in four overs to keep the pressure on before lunch.
After lunch, spinner O'Leary took wickets in two successive balls and three off five in his third over to finish with 3-15.
A feature of the Warwick effort in the field was a caught and bowled by Caleb King. Other top catches were by Gross in the slips, Bourke at cover and Sean Bryson at mid on.
Warwick ran out two Lockyer batsmen, such was the team's enthusiasm.
As Davis Shield winners, Warwick will now play a team from the South Burnett in the Falconer Shield final in late March.