By Jonty Ralphsmith
Dandenong West all-rounder Riley Siwes took another step back towards his best bowling on the weekend in his team’s two-wicket victory over Narre Warren.
Having returned back to his home side, after spending two seasons at Turf 1 club Berwick, the leg-spinner missed the first five weeks of the season due to a syndesmosis injury but looms as a key asset in the second half of the campaign.
With visiting spinners often struggling with the dimensions of the Bulls home ground, Greaves Reserve, his calmness looms as a point-of-difference as his side’s second spinner behind former Sri Lankan international Malinga Bandara.
The wrist spinners bowled in tandem and extracted variable bounce through the middle overs at Sweeney Reserve, Siwes finishing with 2/38 off 10 overs.
It follows just 10 overs across his first two games, to go with his six overs across Dandenong West’s two T20s.
His return to the field has heralded a closer connection with his fellow spinner.
“He’s a very quiet man, Mali, but if you pick his brain, it’s very knowledgeable and the last couple of weeks he’s started to open up,” Siwes said of Bandara.
“Even out there (on Saturday), (he was advising) of little tweaks here, where to bowl, and having him at the other end is awesome because you know what you’re going to get from him.”
After bowling without his usual control in a spell of 1/28 last week against HSD, he conceded just two boundaries against Narre Warren on Saturday.
Siwes made the move to Berwick to improve his own cricket, maturing as a bowler.
“I think fields were one of the main things I got out of the experience and knowing situations of the game,” Siwes said.
“(Matt) Chasemore and (Brett) Goodes really helped me develop that side of my game and besides that, it was about bowling to that field and allowing myself to push blokes back knowing the bad ball will come as a leg-spinner, but backing in your stock ball to take wickets.”
Lured back to his junior club after seeing their attitude shift in the last 18 months and wanting to help the Bulls reach the top flight, an added bonus has been the increased opportunity with the bat.
A staple of the Bears bottom-four, Siwes has batted at five, six and seven in his three hits so far this season.
It took Siwes 22 balls to get off the mark in his first hit of the season against Parkfield, but he was unfazed, aware his role is to bat time.
“I’m hitting them nicely at the moment, but like developing the ability to bat through the middle order,” he said.
“I know in myself that I can do it but it’s just about batting time and getting yourself in.
“For me it’s been about developing a few new shots and getting stronger, which I feel like I’ve been really trying to work on especially through the offside.
“Batting with the likes of (Anthony Brannan, Nuwan Kulasekara and Bailey Howarth), developing those relationships in the middle is massive and that’s where I want to bat in the future.
“That’s where my best cricket will be.”
