Wily Riley a Tiger ace

TASMANIA may be struggling in the JLT Cup OneDay cricket tournament so far this summer, but young Tiger

quick Riley Meredith has done enough to suggest he might have a bright future. The side takes on fellow battlers the CA XI today.

AMID the train wreck that has been Tasmania’s start to the JLT One Day Cup campaign, one promising sign has been the form of emerging quick Riley Meredith.

The Tigers copped three consecutive floggings to start the 2017-18 season in Perth, before bouncing back with a big victory against South Australia in Sydney on Tuesday to open their account.

And while Meredith was the rookie of a pace arsenal that contained Test squad member Jackson Bird and Andrew Fekete — before the latter pair broke down injured — the 21-year-old upstaged his more experienced strike partners.

Having impressed in the pre-season with his raw pace Meredith was rewarded with a debut against NSW, and was unlucky not to have a wicket in his first over in Tigers colours when a catch was spilt in the slips.

He picked up his maiden wicket (Travis Dean) in game two against Victoria, and impressed further with the new ball in the win against the Redbacks with 2-31.

“I was really excited, I put in a lot of hard work in the offseason and pre-season and it was nice to get rewarded,” Meredith said of having an early-season opportunity.

“It was real neck and neck with all the bowlers early, obviously with Bird and Fekete still fit at the start I thought I was just out of the squad, but it was nice to get the nod in the first game.”

Foot stress fractures have affected the Clarence product’s development in the past two seasons, but Meredith is confident his injury woes are behind him.

He is also backing his teammates to continue their form revival when Tasmania takes on the CA XI today, before returning to Tasmania for a home clash against Queensland on Tuesday.

“I made it a big focus to get in the gym and get a lot stronger, I think that helped at the start of pre-season,” Meredith said.

“I think I have gained an extra yard [of pace] this year which has been nice, I’m feeling really confident in my body so that’s a big plus.

“Everyone was still pretty positive, we knew we had done all the work and we were good enough, it just hadn’t shown.

“Now we want to take the momentum from last game into the CA XI clash and then back at home against the Bulls next week.”