Premier Cricket: Sydney Thunder’s Matthew Gilkes stuns for UNSW before Sheffield Shield duties
He’s a rising star of cricket who just wanted to have a good day out with his mates in Premier Cricket. He never thought for a second he would end up with a special record.
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He’s the young left-handed on the rise, whose talent has been recognised with a contract extension to BBL/12 with Sydney Thunder.
And now rushing to Adelaide to enter the Sheffield Shield bubble with the NSW team, Matthew Gilkes was thrilled to be released late last week to turn out to play with his great mates at the University of NSW cricket club.
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He just never thought he’d be walking away from the first day of the second round with his best ever score.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting that,” said Gilkes after bringing up his 200 for UNSW Cricket, which included 10 sixes and 15 fours, in the match against Western Suburbs.
Gilkes fell just 13 runs short of the club’s all-time highest score held by ex-Test opener Michael Slater since 1999/2000.
“I felt like I played with confidence from the start and felt lucky to just get a few games in with my team.’’ he said.
“I’ve never scored 200 before, never even got close. I got 166 in a grade game last year. That’s been my best.
“To start the season like this is wonderful. It’s a good feeling to get that score.”
Described by Thunder coach Shane Bonds as “the most exciting up-and-coming batters in Australia”, the Ramsgate cricketer, who hails from Ulladulla, last week signed an extension to his deal with the club.
Gilkes said the faith Thunder has put in him for the future has given him stability and a confidence boost.
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“It gives me a lot of security and confidence,” he said.
“I made my debut the year before last and then last year I played 10 game.
“I was in a bit of a different position. I was batting at four and I used to open, so it took me a bit of time to adjust.
“It didn’t go as well as I would have liked. Hopefully it holds me in good stead for the year coming.
“The experience at playing at a top level was great.”
During BBL|08 he scored a half century on debut against the Scorchers.
Since, he has played 11 matches for Thunder, for five dismissals and 144 runs.