Ringwood champion David King ‘grinded’ his way to a dazzling century at the weekend

From a “shocking hour” to a century to savour, David King’s latest ton had it all as he drove Ringwood into a semi-final. Here’s how he broke down the innings.

RingwoodÕs captain David King during the Premier Cricket Ringwood v Prahran match at Russell Lucas Ova in Ringwood, Saturday, March 11, 2023.Picture: Andy Brownbill

Ringwood champion David King says his ability to navigate a difficult hour after lunch enabled him to cash in on a good wicket at the weekend.

Instead of forcing the issue, King — with the guidance of partner at the time Tom Rogers — was able to grind through the tough period to eventually score his 19th Premier Cricket ton.

King’s unbeaten 151 steered the Rams to 6-327 at Russell Lucas Oval, ultimately batting Prahran out of the match.

“It was an interesting innings, the wicket was pretty flat at first,” King said.

“I knew if I was able to get through the new-ball period it would’ve been hard for me to get out, but my innings really ebbed and flowed.

“After lunch I had a shocking hour, I think I only scored about 10 runs in about 60 balls, I was just really struggling, but I had Tom Rogers there scoring so it made it a bit easier for me to get through.

“I was thinking if I get a boundary away it might get me through it but he kept reminding me ‘no, keep going, get through it, it’ll come, it’ll come’, and it sort of did.

“There was no scoreboard pressure because he was able to keep it ticking over, which was good.”

King (right) spent almost seven hour at the crease at the weekend. Picture: Andy Brownbill

With the knowledge that the weekend’s mammoth knock was his third score above 150 and simultaneously his third century in a final, King feels it ranks highly among his 19.

“It’s pretty high up there, I have only had a handful of 150-plus run innings,” he revealed.

“The fact that it was chanceless as well, that’s a little feather in the cap.

“I felt really good out there and not having that pressure to declare or anything like that, so I was able to anchor down the innings from one end.

“It would be up there with some of my better couple I reckon.”

After winning the Ryder Medal for his 2019-20 season, King admittedly had a “lean” pair of seasons, scoring just 288 and 213 runs respectively.

And while he rushed to get the creams out again, he isn’t blaming the slender run on the format.

“I was probably one of the happiest in the competition to see red-ball cricket back,” he said.

“It’s been a lean couple of years for me and I don’t want to use white ball as an excuse because it’s not really, but it was nice to have red ball back.

“It suits my game a bit more, it allows me to build my innings a bit more and build partnerships, that’s what I was able to on the weekend.”

David King. Picture: Andy Brownbill

The almost seven-hour, 307-ball stay directed King to 9945 Premier Cricket First XI runs.

Although the meticulous left-hander states reaching 10,000 runs is not a milestone that eats away at him, he is hopeful he achieves it this week, as another score will put Ringwood in a winning position.

“I was probably hoping to knock it off a bit earlier, I have been sitting in the 9000s for the last couple of years but I haven’t made a run,” he joked.

“I know it’s there, it’s not something I am worried about, but it’ll be nice to knock it over (this weekend), that’ll mean I have made some runs and helped the team.

“There’s only nine or 10 ever that have done it, so it’ll be cool to do it.”

The Rams dismissed Prahran for 257 in the 71st over to book a date with Richmond this weekend.

Elsewhere, Richmond went down as the lower ranked side in a draw with Carlton, St Kilda defeated Northcote and Melbourne upset Footscray.

Melbourne and Carlton earn the weekend off and will host home preliminary finals, while Footscray will welcome St Kilda in the other semi-final.