By Marcus Uhe
Jordan Wyatt began the final over before the tea break in Springvale South’s DDCA Turf 1 clash with Berwick on 88.
The second ball of Toby Wills’ over dropped short, and he was onto it in a flash, creaming it over the fence for six at Cow Corner.
His fellow Bloods were enthralled by what their charismatic number four was producing, urging him to continue, but he knocked the third ball of the over calmly into the gap for a single.
Unbeknownst to him, Wyatt’s teammates had the benefit of PlayCricket on their phones and knew exactly how close he was to saluting.
Back on strike for the final delivery, he left it alone, and headed for the sheds to replenish after a huge morning.
Not only had he smoked his way to just shy of a hundred in typically belligerent, eye-catching and destructive fashion, but he spent the early hours of sun light at Warragul’s Geoff Watt Memorial Athletics Track for a team fun run to raise vital money for Mindfull Aus, a charity organisation based in his home town of Drouin tackling mental health issues.
Upon finding a seat and his fuel for a big afternoon, he found a familiar, yet mischievous face for company.
“The old man came in and said ‘Do you remember when I was on 95 at tea and you were annoying the shit out of me?’ and I said ‘No, I don’t remember, I was three,’” Wyatt laughed.
“He said “I’m going to annoy you now,’ so I told him to get out of here and leave me alone.
“If I had have known I was on 94 when I hit that single three balls before tea, I would have tried to hit a six. I would have tried to bring it up before tea.”
He didn’t have to wait long to reach the milestone, smacking another delivery to the midwicket boundary, this time on the bounce, to the delight of his teammates, and proud father, Neil, as he raised his bat to recognise his second Turf 1 hundred.
His wife and two daughters, meanwhile, watched from home on the live stream with equal excitement.
“I didn’t want to hang around in the nineties for too long,” Wyatt explained.
“It was good that it was there for the sweep, and they had the fielder quite straight, so I was able to put it into the gap, which was nice.
“I said to Blade (Baxter, batting partner) at the time, ‘about time, I needed that.’
“My kids and my wife were at home watching on the FrogBox and I think, as a generation, we’re so lucky to be able to do that.
“I got messages from home saying ‘well done, we were able to watch it,’ which I thought was really exciting.”
Wyatt hit 118 from 90 deliveries that included six sixes and 11 fours with a particular liking to the straight boundary, hitting a handful of deliveries into the Alex Wilkie Nature Reserve.
Bears skipper Jarrod Goodes set attacking fields with four slips at times and no men on the boundary as they looked to make life uncomfortable for the batters and maximise the overcast conditions with the new ball early in the afternoon.
Opener Mitch Forsyth added 61 for the first wicket with his captain Ryan Quirk before Goodes’ introduction at first change ended Forsyth’s stay, and soon after, Quirk joined him in the sheds for 20, the second ball after a drinks break, bringing two new batters to the crease in Wyatt and Jordan Mackenzie.
Mackenzie made 22 before the incision of Elliot Mathews made an immediate impact, removing the number three in his opening over.
Wyatt then begun to free his arms and raced to 95 by the tea break, ably supported by Baxter at the other end who was happy to absorb deliveries and rotate the strike for Wyatt to attack.
Bears spinner Lachlan Brown, who had enjoyed an excellent season to date, bore the brunt of Wyatt’s assault, hit out of the attack with four wicketless overs for 30.
“I said to ‘Stocky’ (Mackenzie) at the time ‘let’s just try to build a partnership here and if there’s anything in your zone, go for it,’” Wyatt said.
“We were able to put on 50 and counter-attacked there.
“They got two pretty quick wickets and they probably felt like they were on top, and we were able to take the game away from them in that partnership I feel.
“Early on I felt like I was watching the ball really well and playing the ball late.
“I said to myself, ‘Anything pitched up I’m going to go pretty hard at’.
“Generally I do that at Springvale because it’s short straight, but even more so, I thought the wicket would be a bit dead.
“I guess on the weekend it was my turn to get a hundred which was really nice.”
Momentum swung throughout the afternoon back and forth between the two sides, with Wyatt’s dismissal triggering a collapse of 5/38.
3/230 became 8/268 as the Bears clawed back the ascendency with the chance to make inroads late in the day in the offing.
But a counter-attacking 60-run stand for the eighth wicket between Jackson Sketcher and Jarryd Straker eschewed the danger, with Sketcher clearing the boundary on a number of occasions.
Springvale South finished the afternoon on 9/337, setting Berwick a monster chase next week in order to bank an unlikely victory.
“Hilly (coach, Paul Hill) and I were speaking at 8/270 and thought ‘if we can get to 300, the three at the front of that number makes it more intimidating for anyone,’” Wyatt said.
“For ‘Sketch’ and ‘Strakes’ to do what they did, it fully took momentum away from them.
“We were able to walk off with 340 on the board and you walk so much taller with the three in front of it.”
Goodes’ return to cricket continues to reap rewards for the Bears, taking 4/86 as the standout bowler of the afternoon.
