MORAN HITS HIS GROOVE
In his time at St Peter’s, Lamb was a fast, intimidating wicket-taker, including routing Marshall to take 9-33 in the first innings and 4-82 in the second innings of a match in 2009-10.
Collendina faces a tough task picking up its first win of the season when it faces Ocean Grove in a two-day game, starting on Saturday.
THREE digs, two days, 175 runs. It was a fruitful weekend for classy left-hander Jordan Moran, who piled on the runs in two formats. And he did it all with a busted finger.
Moran notched his maiden ton for GCA1 club Grovedale on Saturday before backing up with a half-century for Greenvale in the Vic Super Slam on Sunday.
“It was nice to get some runs, finally,” he said after making five and 59 for the Kangaroos in a double-header at Greenvale Reserve.
“It was good to turn a start into something decent for a change.”
Batting at No.3 against Geelong, Moran was bowled by Cat Josh Larkin for five in the opening Vic Super Slam game.
But he found his groove in game two against Northcote, combining with Sri Lankan Test century-maker Kaushal Silva (77 from 49) for a 140-run stand.
It all came after Saturday’s match-winning knock against Bell Post Hill, when Moran dug deep to lift the Tigers to victory with a brilliant 111 from 121 deliveries.
“It’s probably the most sensible I’ve batted for a while, which resulted in the runs coming,” he said.
“I had a niggle with a broken finger, which probably made me play a bit straighter, which is always handy.”
Moran said he was playing through pain, having broken the little finger on his left hand against Murgheboluc a week earlier.
“It was just a wild throw and it’s something I do regularly when I keep,” he said.
“The same finger goes pretty often. I’ve broken it five or six times. It’s OK at the moment because I’ve been taking Panadeine Forte. It throbs, but the pain is not too bad.
“You get used to it. I’m not going to stop … it’s a matter of playing through it and being smart through training and things like that. It’s something that shouldn’t hinder.”
With the adrenaline rushing through his veins, Moran felt little pain as he batted Grovedale out of a rut and to victory at Burdoo Reserve.
The Tigers were seemingly coasting after a 72-run secondwicket stand between Brayden Engelen-Baker and Luke Ford before a collapse left them in desperate trouble at 6-138 chasing the Panthers’ 173.
“Brayden got us off to a good start with 60-odd at the top, but after I walked out, we lost 5-30 through the middle,” Moran said.
“We were 7-130 with 40 or 50 to get, so there was a fair bit of pressure, but it was nice to have Chris (Young) walk out and hit them as cleanly as he did.”
Striking 50 from 61 balls, Young also held his nerve under immense.
“‘Youngy’, being a good quality bat who hasn’t had much opportunity up the order, and Lachie (Hornibrook) making a 30 or 40 last year, I knew both boys could hold a bat,” Moran said. “So it was just about taking the game deep with the overs on our side.”
He struck 14 boundaries in the 147-minute innings, his best in a Grovedale shirt.
“It’s probably the smartest I’ve batted and that’s a good sign of where I need to be, because the level of cricket I’ve been playing, that’s what I should be doing,” Moran said.
“I should be teaching out in the middle with my bat, so it was good.”