By Paul Grech
The story of the U18 Vic Boys’ mighty premiership win in the 2022 National Indoor Cricket Championships incorporated key team values, interwoven with remarkable local individual stories of sacrifice and success.
No less than six local indoor cricketers from Cranbourne Kings (Ethan Davies) and Casey Stars (Zac Grech, Thivi Salwathura, Dinal Gamage, Alex Russell and Caleb Candappa) were a key part of Victoria’s ultimate success.
The Victorian captain, Prathan Raje also hails from nearby Berwick Springs.
After multiple winter lockdowns and three long years of no Junior National Indoor Cricket Championships (since 2019) due to Covid-19, Victoria entered all divisions of Indoor Nationals at a distinct disadvantage to other states around Australia, which had had relatively uninterrupted competitions and play in yellow ball cricket.
This was reflected in the absence of all but the U18 Vic side and the Open Women (beaten by QLD in Grand Final by 20 runs) on the final day of the tournament.
The Vic U18 boys entered finals in third place on the ladder (six wins, four losses), well behind favourites Western Australia (10-0), who comfortably beat Victoria in both their preliminary games.
However, coach Geoff Latham had detailed game plans and used every match to experiment with batting pairs, future bowling and fielding plans for the opposition.
Victoria won their first final against SA by 20 runs, with Salwathura (10 runs and three wickets) best on court with Grech (21 runs and a wicket), sharing in an opening partnership of 31.
Victoria then made the grand final courtesy of a best on court performance by Grech (two wickets), who shared in a dominant opening stand with Salwathura (one wicket) of 46 runs v NSW in the preliminary final.
Victoria won by 30 runs. Cranbourne Kings player Davies chimed in with two wickets and 14 runs and Gamage made 16.
In the Grand Final Grech and Salwathura once again had a strong opening stand of 32. Salwathura took a key wicket late in WA’s chase and Raje made 18 and took the crucial wicket of the game with the second last ball in a well-controlled final over. Wicketkeeper Davies contributed 14, while Russell came into the grand final side and bowled a tight line.
Victoria won a thriller against the previously unbeaten WA by nine runs (112 to 103). Cooper Sticht, a 15-year-old player from Croydon Raiders was named player of the Grand Final (12 runs and two wickets) in a true team performance by Victoria.
Amazingly, four players were completely new to indoor cricket in the Vic U18 side; Casey boys Russell and Salwathura, as well as Nic Tindall and Lucas Mullenger.
The talented Russell had spent the previous three years in France with his family, only returning last year. He was bowled and batted extremely well throughout the tournament and was unlucky to take just four wickets, constantly beating the bat with pace and movement.
There were some remarkable individual performances.
Grech was the only U18 player to score more than 200 runs at Nationals. He made 213 at the best average of 21.30 and an explosive strike rate of 155.47 and just 3 times out. He also took nine wickets.
Grech also took the second most wickets in the U22 Men’s tournament in the week before Juniors (13 in total), being Victoria’s top wicket taker in the U22’s; he was only pipped by NSW player Jake Landon (15), who played in an extra final.
Gamage and Salwathura each took 12 wickets (the most for the Victorian U18 side).
Josh Smith and Nicholas Tindall were especially impressive in the field, with Smith taking crucial catches and making outstanding run outs in many games, including the Grand Final.
Tindall marshalled the team from the back net.
Coach Geoff Latham was the team manager in the U15 Vic boys previous Grand Final win at Nationals in 2019 and he in effect went back to back with two boys from that successful U15 side: Grech and Raje.
Latham’s game plans for the finals were carefully considered and the boys invariably executed. The bowlers were well backed up by the fielders and Grech and Salwathura became the dominant opening pair as the tournament moved into finals.
Each player in the Vic U18 squad contributed significantly at various stages throughout the tournament.
It was an amazing performance by all involved, a brilliant exhibition of the sport of indoor cricket and a true endorsement of the game that the final match of 2022 Nationals went down to the wire, with every parent, coach, player and observer literally on the edge of their seats.
