Crosthwaite lifts Saints over the line against Prahran

St Kilda captain Adam Crosthwaite is having a terrific season, and played the role of matchwinner last Saturday at Toorak Park.

Prahran batsman Nick Blaich goes after a Simon O’Brien delivery.

Adam Crosthwaite remained unbeaten.

And it was enough for his St Kilda team to stay unbeaten too.

Crosthwaite is a fine batsman – one of the best in Victorian Premier Cricket – and last Saturday he played another fine innings to take the Saints to a gripping victory over their great rival Prahran at Toorak Park.

St Kilda was chasing only 147. But it collapsed in the pursuit of a bonus point – awarded if a target is achieved inside 40 overs – and was nine wickets down when Crosthwaite hit the winning runs.

It came with a glide to third man and also raised his half-century. He was 51 not out, off 77 balls and with 5 fours.

St Kilda quickie Henry Thornton lets fly against Prahran. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Veteran No 11 Simon O’Brien walked off with the captain, having survived two balls from Prahran spinner Blake Parsons, who collected 4-18 from eight overs.

Todd Murphy (12), Henry Thornton (0) and Will Lovell (0) all fell to Parsons as the Saints made a charge for the bonus point. They didn’t get it, but they did get the match points thanks to the captain.

“Realistically, we had the game under control for pretty much the whole day — we were 3-100 — but the bonus point made it close,’’ Crosthwaite said.

“We tried to put the foot down on a tough-to-score-on sort of wicket and they (Prahran) got four wickets at the end and it got really close. We were nervous there for a bit.’’

St Kilda veteran Simon O'Brien. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Crosthwaite has scored 248 runs at 82.7 from five hands this season. He said he was “in a good place’’ with his batting.

“Personally, a lot of my cricket is targeted away from myself, which probably relaxes my cricket,’’ he said. “I’m hitting them as well as I ever have. But it’s more about trying to teach the youngsters how to go about it. Hopefully we’ve got a few of them playing for Victoria soon.’’

Thornton captured 4-31 off 10 overs and with Josh Bartlett (2-14) punched a hole in Prahran’s top-order, Jake Hancock, Nick King, Damon Egan and Oliver Gunning going cheaply as the hosts tumbled to 4-43.

They were thankful for opener Nick Blaich’s 38, all-rounder Lachie Bangs’ 31 and a wag from the tail.

Thornton, Parsons and Dandenong’s James Nanopoulos head the Premier Cricket wicket charts with 17, with the Saint topping the averages at 8.47.

Crosthwaite said the tall right-armer had make great sacrifices to come from NSW and try to force his way into the Victorian team.

He said Thornton had high pace and was working to develop the skills to complement it.

“We’re all of the opinion that he’s too good for grade cricket, but when he steps up a level he knows that bowling 145, 140kmh doesn’t get you wickets. You need to be skilful at 145 and that’s what he’s focusing on,’’ Crosthwaite said.

“He’s a great kid and he’s doing everything being asked of him.’’

St Kilda players celebrate a Prahran wicket. Picture: Valeriu Campan

On Sunday Thornton played for a Victorian Second XI team against the Victorian Premier Cricket All Stars, who chased down 6-298.

Essendon left-hander James Seymour’s 110 not out off 97 balls was a highlight of the match.

Crosthwaite said Seymour played a “special’’ innings and deserved to be playing at a higher level.

“There’s a difference in the way the ball comes off the bat of a first-class player and a club player, and Seymour hits the ball as cleanly as anyone going around in state cricket,’’ Crosthwaite said.

“If you put him into a Shield game, he’d definitely hold his own. He’s a very good player, a special talent. In fact he’s better than a lot of Shield cricketers I’ve seen. The Victorian coach (Chris Rogers) had to make a lot of runs to force his way in, so at least he knows what it takes to do what this kid is doing.’’

Crosthwaite said that in the absence of a state seconds competition, more matches between Victorian squad members and Premier players should be staged this season.

“I’d like to see them played once a month,’’ he said.

“If our next-in-line batsmen can face Suraj Randiv, James Nanopoulos and Marcus Berryman, it’s awesome. There’s no better practice for them.’’