Tara Murray
Sydenham-Hillside isn’t getting ahead of itself in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association division 1 competition, despite a strong start to the season.
Having come up from division 2 in the off season, the Storm has won its first three matches and shown it is likely to be in the mix this season.
Coach Geoff Pretty said it had been a good start, but they were only taking it a week at a time.
“I think it will be a pretty close division and every win is important,” he said.
“It’s one of those things we don’t know the opposition sides in the league as there’s been a few bit of change from last season.
“We’re under no illusions there is still hard work to be done.”
Pretty said they’ve played some pretty good patches of cricket at times but still haven’t been able to put together a whole game.
He said the scoreboard wasn’t necessarily reflective of who close all the matches were.
“We were on the right side at the end,” he said. “None have been easy.
“The first one we won by one run and then against Altona North we made 230-odd and they gave that a nudge.
“We’ve got a good formula to fall back on. We’re not getting out of jail, but they’ve been close games.”
Having had a lot of success in recent years, the side knows how to win in any situation which Pretty said had come to the fore so far.
The Storm is set to get stronger with their new import, Stefon King arriving this week. The Barbadian is an all-rounder who opens the bowling.
He joins the club after Kadeem Alleyne, who had signed in the off-season, had a change of plans.
Pretty said there were big raps on King.
The Storm are set to face PEGS on Saturday.
Pretty said before the match they didn’t know much about the side, but would focus on what was working for them.
He said they were looking to bank as many wins as possible before the Christmas break.
“We don’t go in with a lot of plans prepared [for the opposition],” he said.
“We back our skill set in. Wins before Christmas are pretty important.
“You can set yourself up, but we’re not looking too far ahead as you could quickly lose three in a row and back to all square.
“We’ll take it one week at a time.”
