By JARROD POTTER
WHILE a batsman usually celebrates milestones in centuries rather than acknowledging games played, Dandenong opener Brett Forsyth combined the two by smashing a century in his 150th first XI match.
Since his swift introduction to senior cricket – playing with greats Warren Ayres, Peter Siddle and Darren Pattinson against the likes of Bryce McGain, David Hussey and Jason Arnberger as a 16-year-old – Forsyth has established himself as one of the competition’s peak performers.
But it wasn’t the past where Forsyth focused on Saturday as the New Year was about helping Dandenong dispatch Frankston-Peninsula.
Cashing in on his first opportunity of the 2016, the Panthers’ powerhouse was sensational as he raised the bat for his 11th century in Victorian Premier Cricket.
In tandem with usual opening partner Tom Donnell (70), the duo added 136 for the first wicket as they smashed through even an overly-negative Heat field to set the stage for a massive tally.
Forsyth turned one of his many 30s and 40s in 2015/16 into a milestone really worth savouring.
With his younger brother Cameron (28) out in the middle alongside him, Forsyth raised the bat for his first century of the season – in his 150th – and set up the Panthers’ comfortable 81-run victory.
“Being on holidays I really set myself for when I came back to finally get a 50 and hopefully kick on and get the victory,” Forsyth said. “And also get the bonus point, cause we needed that extra point just to keep us in touch with the final eight and it all worked out and to a good script I suppose.”
More importantly for the 27-year-old opener, it was a sensational return to form that he felt was absent through the first part of this season – after too many starts and nothing taken beyond 50.
“I think most batsmen go through it when they’re hitting the ball nicely, making 20, 30 or 40, and you probably get frustrated that you’re not influencing the game the way you want to,” Forsyth said.
“I always think my strength is to bat deep and influence the game and that was something I was really pleased to have done on Saturday.”
His tentative 15 on debut doesn’t seem that long ago to Forsyth and in many ways he feels it’s completely surreal to have slowly become one of the experienced men in the side.
But in those 10 seasons Forsyth has taken to mentoring the next generation of Dandenong cricketers with the same passion as his mentors did for him.
“You look back on all of it quite fondly – the strange thing is you still think you’re 16-17 and one of the youngest players in the team, but after 10 years you realise that’s probably not your place in the side anymore,” Forsyth said.
“I was very lucky to have played – especially early on – with so many revered cricketers – Warren Ayres, Darren Dempsey, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Darren Pattinson and then that’s without mention a few club legends like Tim Hooper, Tommy Donnell and a few others.
“We we’re lucky that there was a strong group that was basically led by Warren Ayres – he put that senior group together with some younger players, so I was pretty lucky to walk in the door to play in that environment – it was pretty hard, very competitive and made me understand what it took to further my game.
“There are quite a lot of young guys here now that you have to help them develop and work out their game as quickly as you can.”
There have been lean years for Dandenong recently, but Forsyth thinks the club has advanced in the right direction with the influx of youth into the side – including his younger brother Cameron, Tanner Stanton, Ed Newman and Adam McMaster among others in the lower grades.
“The last couple of years have seen a little bit of a progression – we’ve lost a few our our players in Dan Doran and Darren Dempsey, but we’re bringing in the youth as well,” Forsyth said. “We’re probably a six to 10 team and you don’t mind finishing anywhere in there as long as you’re getting young players in there, and we’ve done that in the last couple of years and especially this year.
“In the years that you miss out, as long as you take a lot of positives from it – Dandenong has such a strong club and strong culture you know that they’ll be up there the next year if everyone puts in.”
Forsyth wanted to pay tribute to former Dandenong CC import Tom Allin, who passed away this week aged 28.
