Lachie Cameron smashes T20 century

The first century of the 2019-20 Coates Hire Namoi Super Slog T20 season has been hit and it just had to be by Lachlan Cameron.

Just 19 days after captaining the NDCA representative first XI to victory in the War Vets Cup grand final, Cameron led Priag Marketing to its first win of the T20 competition in its round three match at Collins Park against Rose Pest Control.

The Priag Marketing skipper opened the batting and blasted an unbeaten 112, batting the entire 20 overs as his team reached 180 runs for the loss of just four wickets.

Jade Lees (25) and Josh Trindall (21) made handy contributions but the bulk of the runs – 62.2 per cent to be precise – came from Cameron’s bat.

Rose Pest Control fielded just eight players for the match so were behind the eight ball from the get go.

However, an extra three fielders would not have been able to stop five of Cameron’s first 10 scoring shots which flew over the boundary for six.

He went on to finish with six sixes and seven fours on his way to the competition’s first century and top score so far.

The knock saw Cameron overtake his Civeo teammate, Specialised Civil Services’ Nick Smart, as the competition’s leading run scorer.

Smart top scored for a third consecutive game for his team with 34 in its 11-run loss against Carla Baxter Real Estate at Hogan Oval in the other round three game.

That saw Smart finish the round on 109 runs, but Cameron’s unbeaten 112 saw him move to 135 runs at an average of 67.5.

Cameron told The Courier that he felt good in the middle on Friday night.

“It was against eight blokes,” he said.

“But it was just good to hit the ball clean, I probably haven’t been hitting the ball as well this season.

“I’ve felt good in patches but I haven’t really put it together so it was nice to middle a few and put a few over the fence.”

Chasing 180 with eight players was most likely going to be difficult for Rose Pest Control and that proved to be the case as the side slumped to a 103-run loss.

Toby Reynolds top scored with 29 and Nick Tomlinson (15) and Joel Hogan (10) were his only teammates who reached double figures.

Josh Trindall was the pick of the Priag Marketing bowlers, finishing with 3-12 from 3.3 overs.

Clay Hoffman contributed with 2-11 from three overs while openers Dylan Smith and Nathan Trindall both chipped in with 1-22 from their respective four-over spells.

Cameron said that the win was one that could kick-start his side’s campaign following two losses in the first two rounds.

“For us I think the win was about bouncing back,” he said.

“We were a bit down on that [round two] game, we lost by a bit and our net run rate took a bit of a hit as well.

“But this game has seen our net run rate have a massive spike which is going to help us moving forward.

“Everyone apart from the Carla Baxter side has lost a game now so net run rate could come into it as we get deeper into the season.

“The win has really put us back into contention.”

Cameron said that his Priag Marketing team had found its rhythm and commended the performances of several players including young gun Clay Hoffman who the skipper described as “the biggest value for money player in the whole competition”.

“Jade Lees has been really good for us and Josh Trindall has probably been the most consistent player over the three games,” Cameron said.

“Dylan Smith has been really threatening with the ball but hasn’t had a lot of luck.

“Nathan Trindall has been really good and has got some early wickets.

“But the surprise packet for me for the whole thing has been young Clay Hoffman.

“For a thousand dollar pick up he’s currently going at $125 a wicket.

“In my eyes he’s been the biggest value for money player in the whole competition really, I don’t think anyone would have a runs per dollar or wickets per dollar record like him.

“He’s got eight now and the wickets he’s getting aren’t token wickets, he’s earned them, they aren’t caught on the boundary, he’s beaten guys with flight and he’s getting his wickets bowled and LBW and stumped.

“He’s been so impressive.”

Priag Marketing will take on second-placed Specialised Civil Services this Friday night at Hogan Oval in a match where a win would see Cameron’s men move level on points with the Craig Gleeson-captained side.

Priag Marketing will have a full roster to choose from with the exception of Tom Groth who is playing for NSW at the Australian Country Cricket Championships.

In the other round four match Carla Baxter Real Estate will secure a grand final spot should it beat Rose Pest Control at Collins Park.