Kookaburras captain Shane Riordan’s ears prick up when he’s told his side will be playing at Kitchener Oval this Saturday against Mornington.
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“Good stuff. You can hit the ball along the ground and get some runs,” Riordan said of the news.
The Kookaburras have played both their two-day matches this season at Wolseley Oval and put in grinding efforts with the bat on both occasions.
From two innings with the bat, Kookaburras have returned 101 runs from 60.3 overs and 53 runs from 53.3 overs at an average run-rate of 1.35.
Riordan said the Wolseley outfield played a part in the lack of runs.
“Most of them just wanted to get out there and spend some time to get their eye in,” Riordan said of his players.
“[Last game] Albion bowled very tightly, too, and the outfield [at Wolseley Park] was very slow so it was hard to get runs out there.”
[Last game] Albion bowled very tightly, too, and the outfield [at Wolseley Park] was very slow so it was hard to get runs out there.
- Shane Riordan
Kookaburras will welcome Beau Clarke back into the fold this weekend after missing the last match due to work.
Riordan said the return of Clarke was a big plus for his side while a fellow newcomer was due for some runs.
“I think he’s a bit of an all-rounder. I’m hoping he becomes a bit more of a batsman because that's what we need,” Riordan said of Clarke.
“Beau and Billy Jupp turned up at the same time.
“Hopefully Billy can stop getting ducks now.
“I think they’ve all been lbw. The one last week was a bit harsh.
“He was mainly just trying to get his eye in. He was a bit over-cautious on a very, very slow outfield where you had to hit it hard to make runs.”
Kookaburras and Mornington will meet for the first time this season after their third round one-day clash was washed out.
Both teams are yet to win a match but Kookaburras will start favourites having gone closer to victory in their matches than Mornington.
With that being said, Riordan was making sure his young charges had their minds on the job.
“They’ve been improving all the time,” Riordan said of Mornington.
“So I’m hoping the young fellas aren’t a bit to blasé about it.”
The match starts at 1pm.