By Jonty Ralphsmith
It’s well known in Dandenong District Cricket Association circles that Coomoora coach Nick Suppree can be destructive with bat in hand.
Arguably, the impact he has had since becoming coach ahead of this season has been equally profound.
Grounded as he recovers from an ACL injury, Suppree’s experience and vibrant personality has energised Coomoora this season.
While the Roos are yet to capture their very best for a full game, skipper Liam Hard is confident with where things sit and praised the impact of Suppree.
“He’s probably a little bit aggressive which is good because I’m a little bit of a conservative captain at times,” Hard said.
“He can give me that idea that’s outside the box which I definitely wouldn’t have thought about.
“That’s been really good for me, I feel.
“He has a lot of time if people need to improve their games but most importantly, he backs you in.
“He always has a positive spin, which in Turf 3, is exactly what you need: someone with energy and positivity.”
Suppree is optimistic of making a late season return to the Roos lineup, and while the batting lineup has produced indifferent returns, Hard isn’t concerned about where things sit.
The loss to Berwick Springs put into perspective the importance to sticking to the Roos conventional style of building an innings, as they lost consistent wickets in trying to match the Titans’ intent.
Since then, Coomoora has stuck to the process.
Against Lynbrook the following week, Rahoul Pankhania did work early in his innings to set the foundation for a century, leading Coomoora to 8/352, Hard and Lance Baptist playing supporting roles.
Against Silverton, Coomoora reached 184 on a tricky deck, with several players, including in the lower-order, playing important hands before a ball had their name on it.
Last week against Fountain Gate, Coomoora reached just 152 but aggressive middle-order batter Charith Sylvester played his best cameo of the season.
“I feel like across the games, every batter has spent some time in the middle,” Hard said.
“We haven’t put it all together yet which is fine, I’m not too worried about that at the moment.
“We want to make sure we time the season perfectly so it’s always good to be able to work on things.”
“Lance (Baptist) comes in and if he’s playing he’s shots, you just let him do his thing, but after that our (other top order) batters are a bit more grinding, which I like because come finals, that sort of brand of cricket finds its way up to the top.”
While the batting has another gear to find, pressure with the ball has been the ingredient underpinning Coomoora’s successful start to the season.
Opposition sides are averaging 16 runs per wicket against Coomoora this season.
Malan Madusanka has been the leading wicket-taker while tying down an end, Dean Krelle has found early breakthroughs and bowled well in tandem with Nick Lloyd, and Michael Klonaridis has continued on his strong 2022-23 form through the middle-overs.
“We’ve been fairly consistent across the board with the ball,” Hard said.
“Nick Lloyd has taken the next step when we’ve given him the new ball.
“His stats haven’t shown how well he’s bowled – sometimes he’s too good to get a nick so he’s maturing well.”
Coomoora faces Doveton at Robinson Reserve on Saturday, Doveton North at home on Sunday and Berwick Springs at home next Saturday to round out its pre-Christmas block of games.
