Welcome back to this week’s Tah Talk with Jay Lenton. This edition Jay speaks to the deserved success of Tom Kaye, the return of the king Matt Brewster, and a one to watch in Ebony Davies!
Thanks again to Underground Cricket for partnering with this article each and every week. Great to have Damon, Jason and the team on-board. For all your cricket equipment needs visit them at www.undergroundcricket.com
TK IS MORE THAN OK
You’ve got to love a good story of perseverance.
First grade opening bowler Tom Kaye is a tale of perseverance personified.
He has gone from a top order bat in the lower grades to leading our new ball attack in the absence of so many topline players.
Last weekend against Bankstown we were missing half a dozen frontline bowlers and it was down to TK to lead the way.
Winning the toss and bowling first, Tom exploited the excellent bowling conditions superbly with that relentless line and length of his.
He finished with the astonishing figures of 6/28 from 19 overs, including the scalp of former Blues opener Daniel Solway.
While not express pace, TK gets the ball in the right spot most of the time and asks plenty of questions of the batsman.
His career-best performance helped bowl the Bulldogs out for just 146 – a total we passed just three wickets down to leave us in a strong position heading into day two.
One punter on Facebook compared TK’s smile and bowling performance to Stuart Broad.
I reckon he’ll take that!
Tommy bounced between the grades in his youngers days and had to stick at it before becoming a first grade regular.
He is now a master of his craft and a terrific clubman to boot.
It’s great to see.
MATT BREWING SOMETHING SPECIAL
Sitting out cricket through injury is hard to take at the best of times.
Doubly so when you see two of your best friends – and housemates – walk out the door every few days to go to matches or training.
That was what popular keeper-batsman Matt Brewster confronted for the first half of the summer as he recovered from a serious ankle injury, suffered towards the end of last football season.
Brewy lives with Jack Edwards and Jacob O’Sullivan so the topic of cricket was a bit hard to avoid.
But being the dedicated clubman he is, Matt didn’t sit around and sulk.
The lay-off gave him the chance to reconnect with some of the boys in the lower grades, including younger brother Jordy, and help with their game preparation.
He’d regularly act as warm-up man and rode the highs and lows on match day, admitting not playing and watching was sometimes more draining than being involved.
Brewy returned to full training post-Christmas and is now back playing for our second grade team.
He hopes to play his part in the boys’ premiership push but is just as happy being back in the middle.
As he told me: “I think my perspective is slightly different. Obviously, you always want to score plenty of runs and do what you can, but I really missed the fun aspect of it all, walking out with the boys in the field, brekky pre-game, the chat, batting with some good mates.
“It’s all the little stuff you kind of take for granted that you end up missing.
“It’s great to be back, can’t wait for the rest of the year.”
Us too, Brewy.
EB FLOWING NICELY
Right from the get-go, good judges spotted something very special in Ebony Davies.
Junior umpires were the first to notice her ability with bat in hand playing for Peninsula and our pathways coaches were equally as excited once she joined the system.
Now in her first season of U/15 Peden Shield cricket – even though she’s still only 13 – that potential is there for all to see.
She produced a number of fine performances, scoring 129 runs @ 32.25, placing her in the top 15 batters in the Peden competition.
Elevated to the Brewer Shield team, that clean ball striking has continued.
Playing just two games so far, Ebony has contributed significantly in both.
Her latest performance – 56 not out against North Sydney last Sunday – earned her player-of-the-match honours.
Coming to the crease at 4/23, Ebony innings lasted 115 balls and hit five 4s in a great display of determination and skill.
We all look forward to seeing her continued rise in the years to come.
