By Marcus Uhe
He’s only gone and done it again!
It may feel as though the Gazette’s CCCA District wrap is becoming the Lucas Ligt wrap, but with the form he’s in this season, you can understand why.
The Devon Meadows allrounder’s average with the bat sits at 104, having smashed 190 against Lang Lang on Saturday in his most recent outing, bringing his run tally for the season to 832.
It begun with 148 against Gembrook and weathered a lean run in the middle of the year, but his last six outings have yielded the following scores: 119, 23, 111, 45, 105 and 190.
For Ligt, now in his fourth season at Glover Rec Reserve, it’s all about feeling settled at the Panthers.
“I’m comfortable in the club at the moment,” he said.
“When I go out to bat now it’s batting to not go out, and making the rest of my decisions based on the situation of the game.
“Maybe last year I’d be worried about performing, I’m still only a couple of years new to Devon Meadows and I was really worried about performing and doing well for the team but I think the pressure of that was taking its toll.
“Now I’m just going out there and minimising it all and it’s making it all that much easier.
“Having a new baby makes things easier. I’m just in a good place and it’s showing.”
Assisting in the process of settlement at the Panthers is what he describes as an incredibly cohesive team environment.
Among the playing group, Ligt is one of the more recent additions to the squad, despite having multiple seasons under his belt now.
But the highs and lows of the sport, including a pandemic and heart-breaking finals losses, have drawn the squad closer than ever.
“Every player I reckon would hang out with every player outside of cricket, it’s not cricket friends and things like that,” he said.
“They all love seeing each other’s success as well, there’s no one there just for themselves in the side, people are getting just as excited for seeing other people doing really well, and it’s contagious.
“But I think that we’re all part of the loss to Upper Beaconsfield in the finals and stuff like that, we’re all just on that end premiership goal, being on the same page every game and it’s showing.”
A reflection of that “contagious” team atmosphere comes when asked about his favourite innings of his year to date.
Without requiring much thinking, he identified his 229-run stand with opening partner Will Halton as the cream-of-the-crop, having established excellent chemistry with the wicketkeeper at the top of the order.
“To be able to do it with Will, I can’t really explain it, but we were really just in the moment together the whole time, and the whole innings was just built with both of us being there,” he said.
“For him to be able to get his first hundred on the back of that as well, I loved being a part of that too.”
Saturday’s 190-run epic, from 185 balls, set the tone for a mammoth total against Lang Lang, as the Panthers made 8/475 from their 80 overs at home.
Ligt’s mindset of batting time, rather than runs, was the key once again.
“I knew from the start that Lang Lang have a lot of capable batters in their side and I knew we had to settle in for a big day,” he said.
“I definitely started trying to just bat as long as I could and not worry about the runs, but the runs started flowing and Robbo who came up from the twos, opened with me.
“We just worked really hard and as we got that 0/100, the plan changed a little bit and we upped it.
“I think they had an injury to one of their bowlers, so they were left with a sub-fielder and stuff like that, and the whole momentum of the game changed from there.”
Nine Tigers were asked to roll their arm over as Rajind Dassanayake’s side battled for any meaningful foothold, as the Panthers racked-up what was comfortably the highest team score in the District competition this season.
A successful defence next week will see them consolidate their position at the top of the ladder ahead of Upper Beaconsfield, a spot Ligt believes his side has earnt, but there’s no room for complacency.
“We definitely think that we deserve to be in top spot with the hard work that we’ve put in, but we know that the job’s not over, and in four weeks, that’s when we’re really going to have to be really on the ball,” he said.
“The loss to Cranbourne Meadows in the two-dayer was a bit of a wake-up call in that we can’t think that way: we still have to go out there and win every game.
“That was probably a good loss for us to have to keep us on our toes.”
Elsewhere in District cricket, Pakenham Upper Toomuc recorded another massive first-innings total against Gembrook, reaching 9/336 on day one of the two-day clash.
Nicholas Kyval (89) and Ben McLeod (98) both fell short of triple figures at Harry Blackman Oval, while Jeremy Everett was the pick of the Brookers’ bowlers with 3/46.
Both Emerald and NNG/Maryknoll will be optimistic about their ability to claim a chasing victory, having both made inroads already.
The Marygoons will resume their innings at 1/30 in pursuit of Cranbourne Meadows’ 184, while Emerald require another 137 with nine wickets in hand to upset Upper Beaconsfield.
