Eastern cricket: Nathan Boucher appointed assistant coach of Glen Iris

Nathan Boucher, Nick Jamieson and Lachie Ferguson are known in the VFL but they’re also premiership-winning First XI cricketers at Glen Iris.

Nathan Boucher hitting out for Glen Iris last season.

It’s no surprise a football is part of the Glen Iris First XI cricket team’s pre-match warm-up routine.

The Eastern Cricket Association club has three players familiar to followers of the VFL, as well as a prominent local footballer Tom McDermott.

Coburg’s Nathan Boucher comes in at No 3, former Footscray Bulldogs VFL best and fairest Nick Jamieson is a top-order batsman and bowls first change, and ex-Collingwood VFL forward Lachie Ferguson bats in the middle and fields like a demon.

Last season the trio was part of the Glen Iris team that won the Wright Shield premiership, putting the club back into ECA’s highest grade, the Dunstan Shield.

Nathan Boucher takes a kick for Coburg this year.

Boucher, 22, was not playing cricket at the start of last season. But he finished it with 580 runs at an average of 58, including two centuries.

“He’s pretty elite, probably the best cricketer I’ve played with,’’ Jamieson said of Boucher.

“He could certainly play a higher level if he put his mind to it.

“He was sensational last season. He was pretty attacking. Eric Raven (Reserve), Glen Iris’s ground, is pretty small and he was putting a fair few into the creek. He hits a lot of sixes and boundaries but he’s pretty good all around the ground.’’

Boucher, a left-hand batsman, represented Victoria at Under 12, 15 and 17 level, and was recruited to Melbourne.

He stopped playing cricket after he broke his leg when playing for Wesley College in APS football.

Lucas Skelton is coaching Glen Iris for a sixth season.

The injury occurred in Boucher’s draft year, when he was with Oakleigh Chargers.

He later joined Box Hill Hawks and crossed to Coburg at the end of the 2019 season.

Boucher will serve as an assistant to coach Luke Skelton at Glen Iris.

Skelton joined the club seven years ago and is preparing for his sixth season as coach.

McDermott, who played in a senior football premiership with Tom McDermott in 2017, is captain and a middle-order batsman.

He was also responsible for Boucher starting to play cricket again.

“He pretty much got me on board after Round 3,’’ Boucher said.

“I was sitting on the hill at Eric Raven watching them play and they got beaten by Ashy Willows, who we ended up playing in the final.

“After seeing me on the hill Tommy sent me a message after that game, asking if I’d like to come down and play. I said I’d missed the whole year of footy at Coburg so some competitive sport might be good for me. I rocked down to training on that Tuesday and the rest was history. It turned out to be a bloody good season. Loved it. Really, really enjoyed it.’’

Tom McDermott shows off the Wright Shield.

From last season’s premiership side, Glen Iris has lost experienced opener Rohan Wight, who has moved to the US (and teammates suggest Texas might not be big enough to hold the colourful right-hander).

But the club has gained two accomplished players in leg-spinner Udara Ravindu and batsman Lachlan Curtis, who shapes as a replacement for Wight.

Jamieson said the Iris were a young team, fielded well and could hold their own in the Dunstan Shield.

Glen Iris celebrates its 2021-21 flag.

Boucher agrees, believing Glen Iris could be a surprise package with its spin bowling.

“This season will be about a lot more pace on the ball, with a few more quicker bowlers in the competition,’’ he said.

“Wright Shield is a lot more about spin and our team is full of spinners. We’re hoping to bring something different to the competition. We’ve had this mantra of ‘spin to win’ and we’ll carry it into this season.’’