Chasing grand final glory

Queanbeyan will be without pace spearhead Darren Southwell and devastating middle order batsman Simon Fahey for the clash after the duo inadvertently booked a cruise over the grand final weekend. 

"A few of the boys organised a cruise and managed to get the dates wrong," Queanbeyan batsman Dave Corcoran said. 

"They tried to arrange it so they'd be here for the finals but it's turned out that they're not going to be here this weekend so that's less than ideal."

Southwell's loss is a particularly sharp blow for the Bluebags to overcome with the big quick Queanbeyan's leading wicket taker in the grade this season with 23 scalps at an average off just 22.

"I think we've got enough batting depth there, it's just our bowling stocks that are a bit of a worry at the moment," Corcoran said. "In saying that though, Jamison is generally quite a hard ground to bat at so it might be a game where a score of 200-220 is enough to defend, particularly in a final where there's a bit more pressure involved." 

Queanbeyan captain Peter Coleborne was yet to finalise a line-up for the final as of The Queanbeyan Age going to print on Thursday afternoon. 

Having finished fourth at the end of the regular season, Queanbeyan will take on third-placed finishers Wests UC in this weekend's grand final in a match Corcoran said was shaping up as something of an unknown. 

"We've only played them once this year and both teams had a lot of players out, we probably only had about three or four of our regulars playing that game," Corcoran said. 

"We haven't played them at full strength either so it's really an unknown for us. "If you look at the two-day ladder, they're clear out in front of everyone so they've obviously got some decent players going around at the moment."

In third grade meanwhile, the Bluebags will be relying on a blend of youth and experience when they take on North Canberra-Gungahlin at Harrison 2. 

"Norths have got a lot of good, hard cricketers and a lot of experienced players...they don't have too many young kids running around," captain Michael Frost said. 

"Whereas we've got the real old blokes and then the young kids coming through as well."