Tara Murray
Sunshine continues to shine with the bat in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Isaacs Howarth Shield.
Having won its first three matches, the Crows were again making runs on Saturday, this time against PEGS.
After being in trouble early, the Crows finished on 301, bowled out in the 78th over
Avishka Chenuka made 114 off 146 balls, while captain Troy Stone made 83 in a big partnership between the two in the middle of the innings.
Stone was more than pleased to walk away from day one with 300 on the board.
“We’ve had a nice positive start to the year,” he said. “We’ve put runs on the board and there’s a lot of confidence about it.
“We were 3-40 yesterday [Saturday] and we were 3-40 against Footscray United in round two. We’ve been able to put together some partnerships to finish off games and innings well.”
Stone said they had looked to change some things in the off season to try and make sure they were getting the most out of their batting.
So far it is working.
“Last season we had some good starts but the middle order was not producing,” he said.
“We changed the way we want to go about it. Avishka made his second 100 for the year and has made big inroads.”
Shakeem Clarke was the pick of the bowlers for PEGS taking 3-85 off 23 overs.
Stone said despite making 280-plus for the third time this season, they weren’t playing their best cricket and would only get better as the year went on.
This weekend presents a big weekend for the Crows and competition, with day two of the round five clash on Saturday and then the rescheduled round one match on Sunday.
He said there was plenty of confidence in the group and the way they are going about things.
“If we could secure both games it will help set up our season going into the Christmas break,” Stone said.
“We’re not playing our best cricket yet and there’s still room for improvement.”
Stone said while they were hoping to go at least one step further than last season, where they made a disappointing semi finals exit, he said they weren’t talking about finals and focuses for this year at this time of the season.
Meanwhile in division 2, Keilor Park has a chase on its hands against Tullamarine.
The Demons made 8-264 off 59 overs, with the Devils to resume on day two at 2-41.
