Werribee did not have enough rain-free time to deliver a knockout blow on Coburg and had to settle for a draw in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association at Coburg City Oval on Saturday.
But there was still enough time for exciting youngster Jack Watt to make his mark.
It was a big week for Watt, starring for Western Spirit at the Cricket Victoria under-18 state championships with a team-best nine wickets at an average of 11.22 across five games.
Watt backed it up for the Tigers on Saturday with an eye-catching 3-10 off six overs to be the main reason why Coburg could only muster 6-87 before rain brought about the compulsory closure to its innings after 31.2 overs.
Watt has stepped up big time for the Tigers this season and his captain-coach Tim O’Brien reckons he will only get better the longer the season wears on.
“From the start of the season till now, you can see his confidence has grown and he believes that he belongs at that level,” O’Brien said.
“He knows his game a bit better now, he’s turned into a really good bowler and is probably the fastest at our club at the moment at only 16 or 17 years of age.
“He’s got a big future ahead of him.”
Watt spent last summer yo-yoing between Werribee’s second and third XIs.
It was his twin brother Matt who took the competition by storm last season.
But Matt’s departure to Footscray, along with the exits of Brad Robertson and James Freeman, paved the way to first XI cricket for Jack Watt.
Watt, a paceman, has taken eight wickets in the first XI at an average of 16.4, with three-wicket hauls in each of his past two games.
“We needed him to step up after losing a few bowlers like ‘Robbo’ [Brad Robertson] and James Freeman last year,” O’Brien said.
“He’s come into his own.”
It’s not only Watt who is taking care of business for Werribee.
The whole Tigers bowling attack has been on a high since the start of December with the workload shared around.
“Our bowling in the last few games has been really good,” O’Brien said.
“We’ve got a really good mix.”
Spinner Michael Kelly was a thorn in the side of the Coburg batsmen with 2-27 off nine overs.
Another youngster, Jack Budd, took 1-16 off six overs to continue his break-out season.
Werribee was reduced to 25 overs to chase down the target, but after advancing to a confident 0-16 off 4.3 overs, the rain came down and the covers would remain until stumps, leaving the teams to share the points.
“It was a little bit frustrating,” O’Brien said.
“The rain would stop, we’d get the covers off and it’d start raining again.”
“It’s definitely made it tougher for us.
“We pretty much have to win every game to play in the finals now.” Werribee will hit the road to play premiership contender Kew on Saturday. O’Brien is not downplaying the importance of the game for the Tigers.
“It’s going to be season defining,” he said.
“If we drop it, it’s probably season over, but if we win, we know they’re one of the top sides and we can take it up to anyone if we get over them.”
