By RUSSELL BENNETT
TOORADIN Cricket Club president Kane Latham is well known for pinning the ears back and going for his shots at the top of the order. In fact, he’s well known at the Seagulls’ nest for tapping his bat harder and harder at his crease the more aggressive he gets.
He’s been responsible for some blistering knocks over the years – such as a ridiculous half century prior to drinks in last year’s winning West Gippsland Cricket Association (WGCA) Sub-District grand final side.
But what he produced on Saturday at Lakeside against league newcomers Kalgidhar would have to go down as one of the most amazing knocks in WGCA history – a century in just 34 balls.
Far from daunted by the prospect of facing the reigning-premiers in their first ever WGCA clash, the Blues – as Kalgidhar is known – set an imposing 244-run chase thanks to pair of half centuries and a string of handy contributions.
Their openers put on more than 100 for the first wicket. Latham, the Seagulls’ skipper, used himself as his side’s eighth bowler and took the first wicket… caught and bowled. He ended up with 3/30 from seven overs.
Then, with his side needing more than a run a ball to win in its chase, Latham took 21 off the first over. The tone was set for what was to come.
“What I said to the boys at the halfway mark was ‘Look, they’ve made the runs – we can make them too’,” Latham said.
“We all had a job to do and we had to back ourselves in.”
Latham brought up his ton at the end of the ninth over. Having faced four dot balls and a wide, he only needed 29 scoring shots. He ultimately holed out on the boundary in the 18th over for 133 with the score at 1/151. All told he belted 23 fours and four sixes… 116 runs in boundaries.
“But if we didn’t get the win it was all for nothing,” he told the Gazette after the game.
“I may as well have gone out for a duck.”
The Seagulls passed the Blues’ 5/243 in the 37th over of the 40-over aside one-dayer at 5/248.
Latham rated his knock as “the most fun” he’s played so far, and his third favourite ever behind half-centuries in premiership wins against St Francis Xavier and Pakenham.
He said he’s tried to curb his aggression in the past, but curtailing his natural game just doesn’t work.
“It’s not that I rate myself or anything, but I open the batting because you tend to get loose balls from bowlers,” Latham said.
“The ball is hard, the bowlers aren’t warm and you get loose deliveries.”
He rated the 30 from teenage opening partner Lewis Johnson as particularly important on Saturday, as well as the contributions from Andrew Proctor (27), Chris Brennan (19), Ross Douglas (13) and Mitch Halstead (16 not out) on a weekend where the Gulls were low on player numbers across the board. Latham said he was “incredibly happy” that his side didn’t get carried away with the opening overs only to lose the plot and crumble late in the innings.
“Overall it was a fantastic game of cricket and I’m just really proud of the way the boys backed themselves in,” he said.
“In the past we’d have been pretty deflated going in chasing 243 in 40 overs.
“We got beaten by Emerald by 150 runs at the start of last season – we got bowled out for 70 chasing 220. We’re horribly slow starters but instead of dwelling on the things we could’ve done wrong, I thought we fought back really well.”
Latham also raved about Kalgidhar’s debut performance in a match played in great spirit, saying the Blues’ inclusion into the WGCA could have an “astronomical” effect on the league in the coming years.
“It’s stereotypical, and I don’t know if it’s growing up playing cricket on the sub-continent, but they play so well with their wrists,” he said of the Blues.
“Okay they’re not (Seagulls Premier star) Tom Hussey or (Pakenham opener) Russ Lehman, but they’re like (former Cardinia gun) Mark Cooper where they know their games inside-out
“I’m looking forward to playing them again at Tooradin but on that fast ground they’re definitely not going to be cellar-dwellers. They’re going to give it a real shake.”
