The convincing victory over Barwon marked the first time the Waves region had triumphed in the under 21 VCCL grand final — and it was also the first title for the male program.

Waves president and under 21 team manager Kelvin White described yesterday’s win at Warrion as a huge achievement.

“They can’t practice together as a group because the region is so big,” he said.

“It’s quite satisfactory to bring a group like this together and have some success.”

Waves captain Ben Grinter won the toss and elected to bat first. After some initial doubts, it proved to be the right decision.

A strong opening partnership from Josh Stapleton (16) and vice-captain Cameron Williams (43 off 22 balls) saw the Waves race to 0-66 after eight overs.

A half-century from number five batsman Simon Close guided them to 5-176 before the side lost its last five wickets for 43 runs to be all out for 219 after 47 overs.

“Our middle order gave up their wickets a little bit too easy,” White said.

“They could’ve just hit the ball around for singles rather than half-hitting it to the boundary, which is what they did.

“We were a little bit disappointed (with the total) after we had such a good start.”

That disappointment soon disappeared after Barwon sunk to 5-25.

This was thanks to opening left-arm bowlers Tom Bowman (4-20) and Daniel Jones (2-31).

The collapse continued, slumping to 6-30 before Brandon Howarth (22) and Jack Spence (17) combined for a 39-run stand for the seventh wicket.

When their partnership broke, the wickets continued to fall, with Barwon all out for 92 in the 28th over.

Other Waves wicket-takers were Joe Higgins (3-24) and Will Chapples (1-14), while other solid contributions with the bat came from Chapples (33) and Nick Butters (27).

The Waves timed their destruction of Barwon well as it started to rain during the presentations.

White said the under 21 age group was sometimes difficult for selectors due to players having other commitments.

“But once you get them on board, they really do enjoy it,” he said.

“Quite a few of these guys have played the last two years.

“All of them are pretty excited.”

Four Waves players — Grinter, Williams, Close and Matt Bignell — will represent the VCCL next Sunday in the under 21 match against Victorian Metropolitan Cricket Union at Seymour.