By Tyler Lewis
It all started at the Berwick Inn.
Current Casey-South Melbourne coach Will Carr organised a catch up with then Berwick star Ruwantha Kellapotha and on the conversational agenda: proper cricket!
Kellapotha quizzed Carr on whether he felt he was good enough to play ‘proper cricket’, after years of demolishing sides in the Dandenong District Cricket Association.
Carr squashed Kellapotha’s doubts and encouraged him to join Victorian Premier Cricket club Casey-South Melbourne.
Fast-forward to Monday morning, Carr – who played six First-Class matches himself – fittingly presented Kellapotha with cap number 869 ahead of his Victorian debut.
Carr kept the advice for Kellapotha brief; suggesting the leggie stick to what has been the foundation of his meteoric rise from local cricket to a Sheffield Shield debut.
“I mean because of our relationship we speak all the time, so it was nothing new… it’s just the same, it’s another game of cricket,” Carr said.
“Just enjoy the moment, embrace and enjoy it, trust your skillset and trust the work that he’s done.”
The crafty leg-spinner sent 37 Premier Cricket batters packing last summer at an average of just 15.59.
He faced few challenges in the step up to Victoria’s strongest competition and was prepared for the challenges that Shield cricket had to offer.
“The challenges will be as you go up levels you’re playing against higher quality opposition for longer,” Carr explained of his stars challenges.
“The margin for error reduces and diminishes, you need to be on your game to play and succeed against the best.
“I think that’s the challenge for any player that goes up and plays at the next level that you’ve got to be consistently better because the margin for error is smaller.”
Making a Sheffield Shield debut at (age) 31 is rare air in modern cricket, but Carr is hopeful it’s the beginning of a continued trend at Cricket Victoria, urging the state he once represented to play those who are good enough irrespective of age.
“I think that’s a bit of a shift Victorian Cricket is making at the moment, they’re putting more emphasis on Premier Cricket,” he said.
“They’re acknowledging the performances and that a good player is a good player, if they’ve got the skillset they (Victoria) feel is going to win those games of cricket, then they’ll choose them.
“Premier Cricket is a stepping stone for state cricket; state cricket is a stepping stone for the national selection, so they’ve got one eye on that to see if they can develop the next national player.
“But at the same time, why can’t you play at the highest level regardless of the age you are.
“Maybe not in recent times, but certainly, you look at the Mike Hussey’s of the world… debuting for Australia at 30 or thereabouts, there’s other examples.
“You can still have a fair time in the game at 30 plus in cricket, why not… why not!”
Kellapotha claimed former Australian opener Cameron Bancroft as his maiden Shield wicket.
