There weren’t many people more nervous than Travis Welsh as he approached his first-ever century for Cardinia.
But his brothers watching on were.
There was a loud celebration surrounding Gunton Oval when Welsh finally reached the milestone late against Devon Meadows on day one of round seven of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) Premier Division.
His knock of 115 not out partnered with another century from Morteza Ali, paved the way for the Bulls cruising to 4/311 in their time at the crease.
Ali opened the batting with Bradey Welsh and did most of the scoring as when Welsh departed for 19, the hosts were already at 1/106.
After he raised the bat for 50, Ali went ballistic, sending the ball to all parts of the ground.
In the 27th over, he blasted four straight sixes to display how well he was hitting them.
When he finally didn’t get a hold of one and skied the ball, he was caught by Lucas Ligt off the bowling of Jordan Jansz for exactly 100 from 119 balls.
Matt Welsh (3) was the next man back to the sheds as he couldn’t form much of a partnership with his brother but Cardinia was still flying at 3/146.
Welsh continued to play magnificent shots and he put away any bad balls that came his direction.
Another strong stand was formed with Travis Wheller (44) before he was caught off the bowling of Ben Marsh.
Finally, Welsh crossed the century mark for the first time in his career and his sigh of relief resonated with those supporting from the boundary.
He batted the day out with Yohan Arumadura (28 not out) to see the hosts to their biggest total of the season to date.
“Travvy Welsh batted amazing,” Cardinia coach Jacobus Hynes reflected.
“He was there to bat all day and he knew what he needed to do and he just did it.
“It worked out well for him for his first 100, it was awesome to watch.
“His two brothers were so nervous for him.
“Shots that he’d normally play in the air, he played them along the ground and got value for his runs there, so I think he was really good in being a bit more mindful and judging it a little better and he deserved it for sure.”
A patient, methodical performance was started on the back of playing support while Ali ticked up his batting tempo.
Then Welsh took the lead and set an example for the Bulls batters to follow.
“When they were batting together, Ali was leading with the runs and Travvy was batting with him but as soon as Ali got out, it was Trav’s turn to lead and be the main man,” Hynes said.
“Ali is such an aggressive player and he can turn good balls into boundaries and his judgement is crazy good.
“Ali started off awesome.
“The games he has played, he’s sort of got himself out in the 30s and that’s something we spoke to him about.
“He took his time getting to 50 and once he got to 50 he accelerated which was good to see.”
Cardinia lost just four wickets on the day, something that Hynes took note of.
Batting full innings and being timely with the bat have been struggles of the Bulls’ season so far, with one thing helping them flip the switch.
“It was more a little bit of a mindset change,” he said.
“It’s the first time in a long time that we haven’t been all out.
“To prove that our top order can bat all day, it’s very good for the confidence and hopefully we can keep that up.
“We’ve slowly been building on our batting by having more time.
“We’ve been absorbing pressure and if we have wickets in the shed then we can build and make a lot of runs.
“We know our bowling is always going to be our strong point so I think just proving that with our batting that we can build on it and take our time during a two-day innings, we know we can play a whole game with our bowling as well.
“I think it just reiterates that we don’t have to rely on one player or two players.
“If we’re all on one day then all of us can do something.
“To have three separate centurions (this season), it’s probably something we haven’t seen at the club in a long time.
“We’re confident we can back it up with the ball.”
Devon Meadows will begin its chase on day two, needing 312 to win.
