By Nick Creely
VIC PREMIER
REVIEW – ROUND 14 (DAY 1)
It’s a moment that Luke Manders will never forget, and when he celebrated his milestone century as a Victorian Premier player on Saturday, all he wanted to do was push on for the good of the team.
The first-year Casey-South Melbourne batsman, who elected to join the club to play with some mates, turned heads with one of the performances of the season to date.
In a season in which several names have risen, seemingly from nowhere, Manders is just another talented local product that the Swans will be buoyed by.
With a gentle flick behind square-leg off Fitzroy-Doncaster spinner Ejaaz Alavi just after tea, Manders brought up a tremendous century, full of concentration, classical stroke-play, and a willingness to dig in when the going gets tough.
When he removed his helmet from his head to the acknowledgment of his teammates, the job was simply not done for him.
He went on to blast 159 off 270 balls, batting for almost six hours in the colossal effort, as the rising Swans made 7/302 at stumps against the reigning premiers.
As his innings wore on, the stroke-play became more aggressive, with another side to the patient opener being explored.
Chasing their fifth win in a row, and looking to cement themselves inside the eight, Swans skipper Lachlan Sperling chose to bat without hesitation on a ripping Casey Fields deck.
And it was a terrific start, as Devin Pollock (26) and Manders swiftly put on 44 runs before Pollock was removed by the dynamic bowling of Trent Lawford (2/57).
It then kick-started a patient and grinding 94-run partnership between Manders and Michael Wallace (33), who both knuckled down to create the platform.
And the partnerships kept on coming, as Manders continued to stay steady, punishing the bad balls and closely defending the good ones, as the Swans started to gather some momentum into a late day push.
Dylan Hadfield (24 not out) then chimed in late with some valuable runs.
The century-maker said that it was a great feeling to make runs, but he’s only part the puzzle, and that a lot of hard work is still yet to come in order to clinch the desired result.
“It was pretty surreal to see that number against my name to be honest,” he said.
“I sort of had a lean patch in the middle of the year and it was nice to make some runs, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the team and that’s what I was thinking – I played my role which is the main thing.
“The score was just par I reckon – we may bat on a little bit next week I’m not too sure.
“Our bowlers are in great knick – I’d say we are pretty confident but Fitzroy have a deep batting side so it’s going to be tough.
“But it’s always excellent playing against quality opponents – you always want to play and beat the best.
“It’s going to take a great performance to get over the line for us.”
Speaking on the club’s finals hopes, Manders echoed that they are not looking too far ahead, and that they will approach every single situation the same.
“Session by session, ball by ball, that’s how BK (Brian Keogh) wants us to approach it – whatever happens in March happens.
“We can only control what happens now.”
The Swans are likely to resume batting next week, as they look to continue their stunning resurgence of the season.
Meanwhile, Geelong has found out just how good James Pattinson really is, with the Dandenong quick picking up 5/23 in one of his rare appearances at the bowling crease in the cream clothing.
But more importantly, the Panthers have set themselves up to find a way out of their mini mid-season slump, after a solid day’s cricket at the Geelong Cricket Ground.
Panthers skipper Tom Donnell sent the Cats in on an overcast day, and it worked a treat early, with Pattinson shredding apart the Cats top-order to leave them reeling at 4/34.
In what has even troubled some of the great international batsman, Pattinson bowled with genuine pace and used the new ball to great effect.
But a defiant century by Cats skipper Eamonn Vines (100) and an aggressive half-century by Brenton McDonald (64), saw the home side reach 242 all-out off 74.5 overs.
Other bowlers to impress were Adam McMaster (3/44), who continues to work into some good touch, while the reliable James Nanopoulos (2/43) was excellent throughout the day.
And young Panther debutant Matt Wetering (0/37) showed some positive signs in his first XI debut for the club.
With just an hour of play left in the day, star openers Brett Forsyth (41 not out) and Donnell (22 not out) wasted little time, gaining some valuable runs, but more importantly keeping their heads and ensuring they got through to stumps unscathed on 0/64.
With 179 runs left to win, the Panthers will use a top-four spot as incentive, in what looms as a potentially season-defining day two for the club’s premiership hopes.
