Tons of potential
Teen bat among the runs
A SMALL technique change and a lot of concentration has allowed Queenscliff youngster Nat Stephens to belt two centuries in two weeks.
The 16-year-old batsman known around the club as “Squid”, got his first ton playing for a Bellarine side against Geelong Blue in a representative mach on January 7.
He followed that 104-run outing with 103 not out for Queenscliff against Drysdale Malcolm in the under-17 Everett competition nine days later.
A rising talent who made his A-grade BPCA debut last summer, Stephens made an adjustment midway through this season to straighten up his game.
“At the start of the season, I kept playing this dumb shot to get out, which was just a flick off the pads, and I would play it too early or not straight enough,” he said.
“I tried to take that out of my game and play a bit straighter and so I took it out and started scoring runs down the ground.
“It was good that the hard work has started to pay off.
“I wasn’t really doing too much before the two tons and hadn’t been making runs.”
As he approached his maiden century, an interruption from the sidelines almost threw Stephens off his game.
“When I was on 98, one of the boys yelled it out and all of the fielders heard so I knew I was on 98 and I nearly got bowled,” he said.
“I just tried to stay calm. I was stuck on 98 for a while so
I just got a quick single to mid-on that probably wasn’t there but I took it anyway.
“It kind of came out of the blue, I hadn’t made too many
runs this season and it just felt good when I was batting.”
Stephens was recalled to the A-grade side for the Coutas’ first game after the midseason
break. With scores of five not out and three, his next goal is to get a big one at senior level and cement himself in the side.
“I just want to play the best cricket I can at the highest quality against the best cricketers and get the best out of myself,” he said.