‘Genuine superstar’: Bloods skipper praises star spinner after 11-wicket haul

Springvale South captain Ryan Quirk has placed star tweaker Jarryd Straker among some of the competition’s greatest ever spinners after his 11-wicket haul. See why.

Springvale South captain Ryan Quirk considers star spinner Jarryd Straker on par with some of the competitions greatest ever tweakers.

In the return of red-ball cricket, Straker delivered a masterful performance, finishing with match figures of 11-40 (6-15 and 5-25) off an impressive 40 overs.

The left armer bowled the entire second innings from one end on Sunday (25 overs) as the Bloods pursued an outright victory over St Mary’s.

Straker played his 100th match at the weekend and, during that time, Quirk feels only two spinners in Turf 1 have rivalled him.

“I think if you look at his stats he would have to be the best spinner over that period by quite a mile,” he said.

“The amount of times he has turned game off his own bowling, I couldn’t speak highly enough of him.

“He was at the point where he was struggling to move in the last 10 overs or so but I asked him if he could keep going and he said ‘I will go as long as you want me to’.

“He has got to be up there; besides (Jeevan) Mendis and Ruwy (Ruwantha Kellepotha), who is playing Shield cricket, he is the best Turf 1 spinner in that time by quite a bit.”

Straker bowls. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Picture: Valeriu Campan

From Quirk’s vantage point, Sunday’s spell was flawless.

“He’s (Straker) just a class above,” he said.

“Especially on the Sunday, the ball was a bar of soap in the wet conditions.

“Me and Hilly (Paul Hill) were talking in first slip and he as keeper and I think he bowled 20 odd on the trot and I don’t think he bowled one half-tracker, one full toss.

“He is just a class above that bloke – as a skipper, to have him at one end the whole time with any ball.

“And the thing that’s underrated about Strakes is how smart he is, not only has he got the craft to land every ball, he is just smart, (and) a lot of wickets he gets is by outsmarting the batsmen.

“He’s just a genuine superstar.”

The Bloods defeated St Mary’s before stumps on Saturday but were unsuccessful in clinching an outright victory.

The first-innings win is still a huge boost for Springvale South as no other match across Turf 1 had a result.