By Nick Creely
There was a turning point in Lincoln Edwards’ cricket career in which he realised he could truly make it in the Victorian Premier Cricket top-grade.
The former Victorian Under-19 representative, who once made 85 against Western Australia opening the batting against the likes of Ashton Agar and Will Bosito, stagnated in 2014/15 and 2015/16 at the Melbourne Cricket Club.
But playing for Guildford as their overseas player in the UK over the 2015/16 off-season, the young batsman flourished and re-discovered his love for the game, scoring 805 runs in the season at an average of 47.35.
When he returned home for the start of this season, rejuvenated and eager to step-up as a Premier batsman, the former Melbourne fringe player made a choice he never thought he’d make – he left the club he had spent half-a-decade playing for.
“I loved playing at Melbourne and never really had the thought of leaving to be honest – people started challenging me I guess to see how far I could go and I ended up personally wanting to give first XI cricket a real red-hot crack – the change of scenery in England really motivated me to come home and give Melbourne cricket another go,” he told the Journal.
In his six-years at the Demons, Edwards played just 24 matches in the First XI, his highest score being just 62 and averaging just 15.37 – in contrast, he played 60 games in the Second XI in the same period, averaging 39.33 and scoring three centuries.
He just seemed to be one of those players that couldn’t quite handle the step up in quality – not many can, and not many do.
But LJ, as he is known by his cricketing teammates, left his beloved club and headed down the highway to Shepley Oval, to join Dandenong, a club looking to rebound after a lean three-year trot.
But it was mostly about fulfilling that burning ambition within himself, that being to succeed in a competition that so many others haven’t.
“I was talking to a few clubs last year but even when they approached me I was still keen to stay at Melbourne, but when I found out Nick Speak was coaching Dandenong, it was a turning point and a major turning point in my decision – I felt some comfort going to Dandenong knowing Speaky was in charge, I know him quite well,” he explained.
When he walked into the club, he was seen as mostly a handy depth player – someone who could come in from time-to-time and play a role.
But entering the Victorian Premier Cricket finals, where the Panthers are locked into the top-four, LJ has become an unheralded star, a player capable of batting in any situation.
He combines grit with class, and seems to find a way to make runs, as shown by his 517 runs and five half-centuries to date.
He is also an excellent, controlled and aggressive hooker of the ball, but has a unique ability to find gaps.
Although a hundred has eluded him at First XI level so far, his desire to lift off his helmet and raise the bat for his new club is continuing to drive him to even greater heights.
“My game has improved a lot this season – I was getting a lot of 20’s and 30’s last year at the Dees , but I’m happy with my season compared to other years – I’m feeling really good but would like to obviously go bigger and get the three-figures, it’d be awesome” he said.
“Dandenong has given me the opportunity and responsibility which is great, and it’s similar to what I experienced over in England for Guildford – I think that’s definitely improved my game and made me want to contribute for the team on a regular basis.”
Looking ahead to the finals, Edwards is excited about what can happen next, and said that the club has the belief to take it as far as it wants to go.
“All the games are important and we need to go hard but the boys do think about finals now – and we basically knew we would be in finals mid-year, and we now have a lot of belief that we can go really deep into finals – we’re all pretty excited with how we’re going and where we can get to,” he said.
The Panthers will close out the regular season with a clash at Harry Trott Oval against St Kilda, with a top-two spot very likely.
