By Ewen McRae
Keilor may have missed the chance to get onto this season’s winners’ list at the weekend, but it is confident of starting its climb up the ladder soon.
With all Victorian Turf Cricket Association games called off at the weekend because of rain, Keilor will go into this Saturday’s clash with Seddon trying to open its account.
Vice president Wayne Miles said the club was looking forward to bouncing back after a poor loss in round one.
“It’s always hard round one,” Miles said.
“You never really know what to expect, and the wicket wasn’t the best early on, but the team batted alright in the second innings and I think we’ll have a good year and be pushing for finals at the end.”
Keilor was comprehensively beaten by Doutta Stars in the season opener, collapsing with the bat on the opening day before fighting hard on the second day to avoid an outright defeat.
Miles said it was no secret that improved batting was a big focus for the First XI.
“They knuckled down in that second innings, so they’ve shown that they can do it and with a young team that’s really important,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of bowlers at the club, but our batsmen need to step up and value their wicket a bit more. That probably goes for the whole club, all the way down the grades.
“They can all bat, it’s more about decision-making and execution, which will always happen with younger players so we’re working hard to improve in that area so we can contest again at the end of the season.”
With a young side taking the field this summer, Miles said it was exciting for the club to give opportunities to some of its budding superstars.
“It’s a young team, and we’ve got a young captain (Daniel Stavris) who has been around the club for a while and is doing all the right things,” Miles said.
“Even our seconds are pretty young, but we’ve already been able to give a couple of 17-year-olds their first game in the ones, and I think we’ll rotate a few through the senior side.
“It’s good to give them that experience against the big boys, and it’s a good standard of competition to expose them to.”
Keilor is hopeful of welcoming West Indian all-rounder Roshon Primus to its side this week, with the Barbadian to add some experience to the line-up.
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