Tara Murray
It was a tough day, but there were also positive signs for the Greenvale Kangaroos in Victorian Premier Cricket on Saturday.
While the Kangaroos have started the season with a couple of losses, each game they show they are on the right track.
Coaching director Ash Cavigan said they were where they thought they would be early in the season.
“Our English boys are now here and they played on Saturday,” he said. “We have a big contingent of year 12 boys who are juggling premier cricket with year 12 exams.
“We knew it would be like that, so we’ve been a bit stretched otherwise we’re travelling well.”
Cavigan said the arrival of Ben Cliff and Will Luxton had provided a big boost to the group.
While the pair are expected to play a big role on field, Cavigan said they were also excited for what they would do off field as well.
“They are two really nice young guys,” he said. “We have a really young group and they are excited to have two professional cricketers here.
“To be around them and to learn from them, they are pretty excited. It’s more about what they do during the week and being able to watch them train.”
As well as the English pair coming into the side, Ryan Stingel played his first game back at the club having been at Footscray last season.
On Saturday, the Kangaroos were in action at home on day one of their clash with Frankston Peninsula.
Frankston Peninsula made 8-308 from its 90 overs.
Cavigan said the group was able to fight back after a tough start.
“It was a bit worrying early with [Nicholas] Taranto and [Lucas] McConnell were batting really well and put on a partnership of over 100.
“It was tough but I thought we fought back really well. Ivan [Zmak] got a wicket and [Armann] Singh, a 6’8 medium-fast bowler, came back in his second spell and took two wickets and there was a dropped catch.
“We would have loved to have been chasing 250 but we fought back into the game.”
Cavigan said the most pleasing thing for the coaching group was seeing how the bowlers responded in their second and third spells after struggling early on.
He said that’s a big part of developing as a bowler.
Captain Justin Galeotti took 3-30 to be the pick of the bowlers with Singh and Cliff took two wickets each.
Cavigan said Cliff bowled well in his first appearance for the side.
With a target of more than 300 on the board, the Kangaroos have a good chase ahead of them on day two.
Cavigan said being able to get the runs would be a good confidence boost for the group.
“Hopefully we can bat our overs and get some significant partnerships going,” he said. “Hopefully we can be in a position to have a crack.”
