Tara Murray
It was a mixture of the young and old that got the job done for Wyndham Vale on Saturday in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Russell Pollock Shield.
Facing Jacana, the Vales needed 163 for victory on day two of the match on Saturday.
The opening pair of Jay Dolliver and Trent de Villiers got the side within sight of victory before their teammates finished it off
The Vales finished 7-204.
Vales captain-coach Liam McLaughlin said it was a really good start to the season.
“It was our first opportunity to bat on the weekend,” he said. “Our openers took the full opportunity and were exceptional.
“Trent is one of the young guys and he went ballistic and made 90 odd. He took the game on and set the tone.
“Jay Dolliver was at the other end and is one of our more experienced players and helped calm him down.
“When you make 150 for the first wicket, you’re not losing too many matches.”
de Villers made 91, while Dolliver contributed 53.
McLaughlin said they would definitely give de Villiers another shot at opening the batting after that performance.
He said they felt they were in a better position than they were 12 months ago.
McLaughlin said they managed to keep the core group together while adding some more depth.
“Antarpreet Bajwa has returned from Laverton,” he said. “He’ll add some depth in the middle order.
“We’ve also had a handful of players walk in off the street that have flowed into our first and second XIs.
“It’s added depth which we didn’t have last year. It filters through the grades and there’s more people at training and the training standards have lifted as everyone wants to be there.”
McLaughlin said they would hopefully also see the rewards of 12 months of senior cricket in some of the younger guys.
From a coaching perspective, McLaughlin said it was a bit easier heading into his second season.
“I have a bit more of an understanding of what needs to be done this pre-season,” he said.
“The things we needed to improve on… We’re seeing some of those little things pay off early in the season.
“We’ve taken 20 wickets in the first two games. Last year we were struggling to bowl teams out and we’ve taken 10 and 10, it’s good to see.”
After struggling at times last season, McLaughlin said they want to close the gap on the top teams and become one of them.
He said getting off to a good start is key.
The Vales next match is against Melton Centrals, who also got a win on the weekend.
In other results, Point Cook and Point Cook Centrals both got wins in the Roy Picone Shield, while Werribee Centrals opened their account in the Evans-Clark Shield and Bellbridge suffered a loss.
