WALTER STANDS TALL AS KING COBRA
IT has been a seamless transition into the captaincy for Collendina skipper Nathan Walter.
The Cobras’ talented batsman was the obvious choice to replace his brother Corey, who moved to Marshall at the end of last season to further his cricket on turf in GCA2.
“I had an inkling he was going to leave towards the end of last season,” Walter said.
“He wanted to play a higher level of cricket and I can’t blame him for that.
“When we had the end-ofseason review, I put my hand up and said I’d be interested in doing it and with the help of Charlie Lamb and Ben Ricardo — guys that have played plenty of A-grade cricket — they’ve made my job easier.”
Walter’s coach Eddie Ellwood heaped praise on his new leader before the season began, backing him in to replicate his end-of-season form with the bat earlier this year, which included a knock of 52 in a tough semi-final loss to Ocean Grove.
After Collendina’s Round 1 loss against Anglesea, opposing coach Dale Kerr men- tioned how crucial the wicket of Walter was and marvelled at the improvement he had seen first-hand.
With scores of 93 not out and 47 to start this season, Walter has become the big wicket for opposition sides, although he doesn’t see it that way.
“I’m very surprised by that because we have plenty of depth with Kade Norquay and Ben Ricardo, who’ve both made plenty of A-grade runs,” Walter said. “Our batting depth is pretty good, so I don’t feel any pressure at all, albeit I do expect to step up myself.”
Ahead of today’s match against Jan Juc, Walter will be aiming to continue his promising start with the bat, but will face another test with Jan Juc quick Nick Smith coming off a superb 3-8 last match.
Collendina will make two changes, with Ricardo a big inclusion into the top order.
“We get Ben Ricardo and Jacob Gasior back this week but lose Jye Hearps and Dwaine Lancaster, so two in two out,” he said.
“Obviously we’ve got a new look and there’s probably been a bit of talk that we might not be as good without Corey, but I think we’re still going to be right up there.”