VTCA: Jake Carlisle and Ben Radford star in Craigieburn win
A former AFL defender and a new recruit helped Craigieburn to its first win while the Eagles coach had plenty of praise for a 13-year-old spinner who claimed five wickets.
North West
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The old and the new are coming together perfectly for Craigieburn.
The Eagles are on the board for the first time after stunning Yarraville Club by 26 runs in their Victorian Turf Cricket Association Senior Division clash.
But it’s the promise of a new look line-up which should have coach Chris Laffan excited.
Jake Carlisle, in his first full season back at the club after his AFL career, posted 50 runs from 93 balls at the top of the order to guide the Eagles to be all out for 167.
Then new man Ben Radford tore through the home side’s batting line-up with 3-19 to cap off his best display since crossing from Yarrawonga-Mulwala.
“I’ve been really happy with how both of those guys have started the season,” Laffan said.
“We moved Jake to the top of the order to try and free him up a little bit and it worked wonders, I think he might have found a place there. It’s been great to have him back at the club, he’s been a great asset to the group.
“Ben is only a young guy, still 21, so we’re excited by what the future holds for him. It wasn’t his bowling which got us going either.
“He took an absolute ripper to get Trent Lawford out. Lawford hit the first two balls for a six and fours and we thought it was going to be one of those days like the other week.
“He went to hit it over mid-wicket and his running back and falling backwards, Ben’s taken the catch. It was fantastic.”
With his side now on the winners list and off the bottom of the ladder for the first time this season, Laffan is confident of seeing more from his side.
Although he admitted they had been below par in recent weeks.
“It’s a tough division so every game is going to be tough,” he said.
“We put in a really solid performance against Sunshine United a few weeks ago and then probably dropped away a little bit since then.
“We made some changes and it held us in good stead. But we know there’s still room for improvement in this group.”
Despite the match winning performances of Carlisle and Radford, Laffan was quick to praise Clubbers young gun Jackson Martin who finished with his first five-wicket haul in senior cricket.
The 13-year-old finished with figures of 5-24 from his eight overs.
“He’s an absolute talent and I think a lot of people around the VTCA think he’s got a big future ahead of him,” he said.
“Our batters have had their challenges against spin bowlers and he brought plenty of variation which caused us a few headaches.”
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