By ROY WARD
BOTH Dandenong and Richmond captains have implored Victorian selectors to reassess star batsmen Brett Forsyth and Ryan Carters after both players starred in the Premier Cricket grand final.
Carters made 102 from 252 deliveries on day two to lead the Tigers past the Panthers’ first-innings total while Forsyth made 97 from 242 deliveries on the first day before being run out.
Carters was in the Victorian side until being dropped for the final game of the season while Forsyth has recovered from a horrible 2010-11 to make 887 runs at 52 this season.
Carters made 565 runs at 51 from 13 Premier Cricket matches this season when not in the Victorian side.
Panthers captain Darren Dempsey repeated his call for state selectors to again look at Forsyth after he was dropped from the Bushrangers’ rookie program before the season.
“His innings was excellent, really good,” Dempsey said. “He really impressed, it was just a shame we couldn’t hang around long enough to get him a hundred because he deserved it.
“I hope a few guys were here watching. I hope he is not out of the mix from a Victorian point of view because that is the sort of innings he can play.
“I think he can do it at other levels because he has done it at futures level and with opportunities he could do it in the proper stuff. He is probably out of contention at the moment but his chances aren’t gone.”
Tigers captain Allan Wise also praised Carters for his determined batting throughout day two.
“We can’t, nor can he, control what happens at a higher level but his form for us has been fantastic,” Wise said.
“I hope the people who make these decisions were watching because he just applied himself for hour after hour.
“That is the way he bats – he has a clear game plan and is happy to just play to that and stick to his parameters.”
Wise was especially impressed by Carters’ ability to alter his batting to suit conditions or different attacks. “The way Carts applied himself in the first session when the going was tough, he just acknowledged that whereas other batsmen don’t, they just keep going at the one speed.
“He will work his tempos to how a side is bowling and that will hold him in good stead for a long career. I don’t think he takes too much notice, he has that real steel about him.”
