Premier Cricket 2018-19: Aaron Shellie makes career-best 130 in Essendon’s 384
Aaron Shellie went from spectator to century-maker with a career-best 130 as Essendon piled on its third score in excess of 300 in four Premier Cricket matches on Saturday.
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Aaron Shellie went from spectator to century-maker with a career-best 130 as Essendon piled on its third score in excess of 300 in four Premier Cricket matches on Saturday.
In his first innings since January 19, Shellie hammered 18 fours and one six on his way to the second hundred of his Premier career against Monash Tigers.
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The No. 6 batsman had watched teammates Aaron Ayre, James Seymour and Michael Hill reach triple figures since his most recent First XI innings in Round 11 against Footscray.
“Shellie has been around the Premier scene for a while now and just knows what he has to do,” Bombers assistant coach Callum Appleyard said.
“When the top order has been going so well, it’s great for the team, but he has just been doing what he needs to do to make sure he is good to go when his time comes.”
The match was finely-balanced when the Tigers claimed the key scalp of Aaron Ayre (83), who broke his own record for the most runs in a season from an Essendon batsman as he went passed 900 runs for 2018-19.
From 4-155, Shellie and Isaac Willett took the score to 4-192 before Willett was caught by Tom O’Connell off Liam Fernando’s (1-51) bowling.
Shellie and Isaac Conway took the fixture away from Monash in spectacular fashion, sharing a 147-run sixth-wicket partnership which formed the backbone of their side’s total of 384.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Conway added a valuable 53, but Shellie was undoubtedly the star with a power-packed innings which belied his lack of time at the crease in recent months.
“It was a great knock for someone who hasn’t seen a lot of time in the middle,” Appleyard said.
“His counterattacking shots and rotation of strike with Willett and Conway was great.”
Essendon has posted 3-348, 2-280, 3-397 and 384 in its past four innings, piling on 1409 runs for the loss of only 18 wickets.
“It definitely is rare to see the rate we are scoring at, but the guys are backing themselves to play their natural game and the confidence is high,” Appleyard said.
“(But) cricket is a funny game and can turn at any stage, but we are prepared for that.”
Monash Tigers went to stumps at 0-10.
The Bombers are chasing their first club championship since 1968 and a First XI victory in the last round of the season would all but seal the title.
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