PORTHILL PARK HAVE YET TO HIT THE PREMIER HEIGHTS, SAYS HANCOCK
JOHN Hancock believes his Porthill Park side still have gears to move through despite setting the early pace in the NSSCL Premier Division.
Porthill Park have opened the top-flight season with four successive wins - the only team to have an unblemished record after the opening month of the campaign.
That has left Hancock’s men 10 points clear as they prepare to play their last win/lose match at home against Elworth tomorrow before the sides move to a block of 11 redball win/lose/draw encounters.
And despite being understandably pleased with their start, Hancock insists that there is more to come from Porthill Park as the summer programme unfolds.
“The red-ball format is our bread and butter and we targeting getting three or four wins in the first five weeks of the win/lose and then carrying on from there,” said the Porthill Park captain.
“So to establish a 10-point lead at this stage is really pleasing, but we’re not taking anything for granted.
“In the first four weeks of the season we’ve played good cricket, but we’re not playing the cricket I know we are capable of - we can get better.
“I don’t think that we’ve clicked with the bat yet. We’ve put good scores on the board, but could have probably had 20 or 30 more runs in each innings.
“In the win/lose format people can take a game away from you and we know we have to bring our A game every week.
“We are going to be tested over the season and we really have to be ready for that.”
Integral to Porthill Park’s flying start to the season has been allrounder Matthew Coxon.
Coxon joined Porthill Park from Stone SP ahead of the 2021 campaign and had a solid opening year at the Old County Ground.
However, he has taken his game to a new level this time around with fine contributions with the bat in the middle order as well as leading the bowling attack.
“Last year Cocko was probably overly keen to impress,” added Hancock. “He didn’t need to do that because he’s got a great league record.
“In my opinion he’s relaxed a little bit more this season. His batting is in form and his bowling looks after itself.
“He’s been a key player for us in the opening weeks of the season.
“If he keeps going as he is, we will be in a really good place.”
It’s not just Coxon who is making an early impression in Hancock’s senior side.
Young batsman Tom Longworth, aged 18, has nestled nicely into the top order, while Sri Lankan spinner Sachithra Perera is settling in after joining as the club’s overseas recruit.
“I’ve been really pleased with Tom,” said Hancock. “At the start of the season it was a case of him batting at three or four and it’s good for the club to be able to bring a young player through our teams into the firsts.
“We could have put Jack Beech higher up, but I felt that Tom was ready for the opportunity.
“There’s not lots of pressure on him, it’s just him going out and doing what he does with the bat.
“Sachithra has come in as our main spinner and it’s figuring out when best to bowl him. He’s been doing two or three short spells at the minute.
“He’s getting better each week and certainly adds an extra dimension to our side. We spoke at length to him before he arrived about his role in the side.
“At other clubs he’s probably felt the weight of expectation and a bit of pressure of being the main man.
“But now he’s part of a wellbalanced bowling attack and everything is not just placed on his shoulders.”
Porthill Park’s squad looks to be in rude health, therefore, as they attempt to make it five league wins on the bounce tomorrow.
It will be a quick reunion for the two sides after they met at the same venue on Sunday in the ECB National Club Championship, with Porthill Park running out 10-wicket winners thanks to Hancock’s century.
League matters are at the forefront of Hancock’s mind at present, but he says the club is determined to challenge on all fronts as the season unfolds.
“We want to go as far as we can in the Talbot Cup, Nationals and also the Twenty20 when that starts,” he explained.
“We have a team and squad to cover all formats and there’s no reason whey we can’t compete in everything if availability is good and we steer clear of injuries.
“It’s important to look at Elworth first, though. Last Sunday won’t have any bearing on this weekend, it’s a clean slate.
“They are a well-drilled side and have dangerous players - and there were a few who didn’t play last week - so we can’t read anything into the cup game.”
Elworth captain Russ Ballard has been having sleepless nights ahead of this weekend’s trip to take on a Porthill Park side who have been champions in four of the last six seasons.
But facing Hancock’s men is not the cause of his disturbed sleep that is down to a new arrival in the Ballard household.
Russ and wife Lorna welcomed their first child, daughter Ivy, into the world last Friday, which meant Ballard missed last weekend’s action.
However, as he became accustomed to changing nappies, his side were chalking up a third league victory in four since winning promotion back to the Premier Division.
Their only defeat arrived at Longton, while Leek, Meakins and Stone SP have all been beaten to leave the Cheshire side in third place.
“I was quietly optimistic before the start, but the fixtures were not too kind to us having Porthill Park, Meakins and Longton in the first five weeks,” said Ballard.
“The way we play we are suited to the win/lose format, but things couldn’t realistically have gone much better from our point of view with the wins against Leek, Meakins and Stone SP.
“We’ve got strength in depth with the bat, which we probably haven’t had in previous times in the top division.
“And we have a fair few lads with Premier Division experience which certainly does help us along the way.”
Ballard, well versed in life at the top table of local cricket, admits that Porthill Park might have to dip below their standards if Elworth are going to continue their excellent start to the summer.
“We will go there and give it a good go. Last Sunday we had four of us missing and it’s a different day,” he added.
“We’ve got to hope they have a bit of a bad day because they are a really strong force.
“We are just looking to compete with them first and foremost and if we could beat them and end this block with four wins out of five, that would set us up very nicely.”
Ballard, though, is not about to start changing his side’s targets for the campaign after their excellent opening month.
Instead, he just wants Elworth to keep ticking off the games and chalking up points.
“We need to play a few more weeks before we can start looking at where we are going,” explained Ballard.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that it’s a really tight division, so it’s important that we just carry on and get to the halfway stage.
“But it’s nice to look at the Premier Division table and see us in third place at this stage.
“I can’t remember the last time we were that high - and long may it continue.”