By David Nagel
Experience with the bat and unbridled youth and enthusiasm with the ball – Pakenham’s (2/164) recipe for early-season success continues to taste good after the Lions scored a thrilling three-run victory over Tooradin (161) at Rutter Park on Saturday.
The Lions have only had four batters walk to the crease this season, all experienced premiership players, with openers Jack Anning (33) and Rob Elston (67) once again building a platform after skipper Dale Tormey called correctly and elected to bat first.
Tormey (43 not out) and Jason Williams (13 not out) then did what they did in round one, taking over from the openers and guiding the Lions to the end of their innings without further loss.
The batting recipe has worked well, with experience camouflaging youth, but only time will tell if an influx of young bowlers will be able to handle the pressure, with stick in hand, when that mere formality occurs.
But the kids…well they’re already having a mighty impact with the ball.
Marcus Martini (1/28 off 7), James Close (2/37 off 8) and young leg-spinner Jordan Seers (3/21 off 4.5) took six wickets as the Seagulls’ batters chased hard for victory.
Tormey (2/17 off 6) and Williams (1/38 off 8) were also important, as was the run out of Cal O’Hare (4), but the trust shown in the youth is exciting for the Lions as they look towards the future.
Opportunity has knocked with injury to big guns Chris Smith and Patrick Lawson, and the departure of Zac Chaplin and Troy McDermott, causing a major restructure to occur.
“Obviously it’s not ideal that we’ve had a couple of guys not come up, but we move on and bring in some kids that bring a lot of excitement, and it provides us all with an opportunity to step up and perform,” said Lions’ coach Elston.
“We’ve had the experience at the top do the job so far, but we’ll take it week by week and hopefully keep improving.
“We don’t think we’re here to make up the numbers, we’re here to continue to be successful and perform as well as we can.
“And, so far so good.”
The Lions’ young bowling brigade has been one of the stories of the season so far, with Martini and Close building on steady first season’s last year.
And Seers is an emerging leggie, who is yet to play a handful of games.
“With Paddy (Lawson) missing it opens up an opportunity, and Marcus and James were regular members of the team last year, so they’ve had a taste, but they’ve stepped up and are bowling well,” Elston explained.
“We had a plan in the pre-season to invest in our 16 to 20 year olds, we made a major focus of that, and Marcus and James are two of the boys that have really benefitted from that focus.
“Marcus has only taken three wickets, but two of those are two of the best players in the comp in Danners (Daniel McCalman) and Tom Hussey, and James has done really good as well.
“And probably the difference in the game was when Jordan (Seers) came on and took three for 20 when the game was on the line, so it’s exciting times for the club.”
There were several key moments in this clash.
Tooradin’s star all-rounder Dylan Sutton could bowl just 2.2 overs before injury halted his spell, forcing O’Hare to search for additional overs.
The Seagulls didn’t help themselves in the field, dropping some chances, while the form of Elston in particular has been delightful.
“It’s probably been through necessity more than anything else, I’m someone who is happy to play my role and bat where required and do what’s asked of me,” he said.
“With Chris (Smith) out at the moment there’s an opportunity that has presented itself and it’s all working well right now.
“I did a fair bit of work over the off-season to get myself into a good position to perform, and so far so good, it’s paying off.”
Aaron Avery (35), Sutton (38) – who batted with a runner after his earlier mishap – and Ben Parrott (29 not out) threatened to steal the 12 points, but Seers held his composure in the dying overs.
The young spinner took three of the last four wickets to fall, including the winning scalp of Kallan Braid-Ball (4), who took a mighty swipe with just two balls remaining in the match – but walked past one and was stumped by Elston.
“When things started to slip away from us a little, we’d take a wicket and we were able to stay in the game,” Elston said.
“They’re a very good team, no doubt the team to beat, but we were up for the fight because there’s always a good rivalry between the clubs.
“At the end of the day we took our chances when they were presented and we got the job done.”
Elston said the big win, in a big game, had bigger benefits than just the 12 points.
“The bond is continuing to grow, with every session and every experience we have together, so it’s exciting times,” he said.
“We’re under no illusions that we need to continue to grow and develop, because realistically some of us blokes can’t play forever.
“We need these players to come in and fly the flag for the Pakenham Cricket Club because the club is bigger than any one individual.
“We’re trying to build that culture that guys will carry the torch when it’s their turn.
“When you win in those circumstances, in a tight one, in a big game, at a time when those bonds are being forged, that’s invaluable for our playing group moving forward.”
