GIVE ME MORE
Coach a Tiger for improvement
A THIRD consecutive finals appearance in all forms of the game is not enough to convince Tasmanian coach Adam Griffith his squad has fully turned the corner.
However it does provide affirmation the program is headed in the right direction after several seasons languishing at the bottom of the table.
In his first year at the helm having replaced the sacked Dan Marsh, Griffith led the Tigers to the Sheffield Shield final, and he was an assistant to Gary Kirsten as the Hobart Hurricanes reached the decider of the BBL.
Now the Tigers have earned another crack at some silverware when they take on Victoria in the One Day Cup final in Melbourne tomorrow.
“The fact is, we have made three finals in a row now in three different formats and that is quite pleasing and it means we might be doing something OK,” Griffith said.
“I don’t know about belief in turn- ing things around, though. That has never been our focus. It is not about the outcome of winning a title, it is how we go about playing our best cricket and getting better every day so, when we put it all together, it will put us in a position to win things.
HAVING waited more than 15 years to raise his bat for a century, Lindisfarne’s Matt Dance couldn’t have picked a better time to get the monkey off his back on Saturday.
Dance, 32, had toiled away in first and second grade CTPL for 12 seasons and 178 innings without reaching three figures before finally breaking his duck in a brilliant individual performance against North Hobart.
The gritty left-hander — who hadn’t scored a century since his under-17 days — carved out an unbeaten 139 as the Lightning chased down their 249-run target with nine wickets in the shed and seven overs spare at Pontville.
And to make the season opening victory more special Dance was standin skipper for a side missing a host of first choice talent to both the Tigers and Hurricanes squads.
“To be honest it was a little bit of a relief, I’ve certainly been hounded over the years not only internally by the boys but externally by some of the guys we play against that I hadn’t quite got across the line,” Dance said of his maiden first grade ton.
“I had a bit of an idea I must be close but I was just taking it one ball at time, the old cliche. I was seeing them pretty well and was lucky enough the conditions were good.
“I squeezed one out to deep backward square and it didn’t exactly go where I wanted it to, I jogged through for the single and heard the noise from the sidelines which was fantastic.
“To have the opportunity to not only captain the side but celebrate a century and a win, that’s what it is all about.”
Dance’s previous highest score since underage cricket was a 99 against Clarence in second grade in 2010-11, while his highest first grade score was an unbeaten 94, also against the Demons, five seasons ago.
Despite admitting to some self doubts about whether he would ever reach the milestone, Dance has felt more at ease with his game in the past few years.
“Been a very long time between drinks, probably why I have copped a bit over the years,” he said.
“In the early days there might have been a bit of doubt but in particular with the last two to three years, I have felt my game has improved a lot.
“I am really enjoying my cricket and I think it is starting to show with the results I have been able to generate.”