Premier Cricket: Dandenong has had six centuries this summer and champion bat Brett Forsyth reveals why
A pre-season request from coach Tom Donnell has played a role in Dandenong’s unshackling with the bat this summer. Brett Forsyth, who just hit his third ton of the summer, explained why.
Outer East
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A pre-season request from coach Tom Donnell has worked wonders for Dandenong and its champion Brett Forsyth this summer.
Rather than trying to save the game, Donnell asked his captain to try and win it instead.
And it’s worked excellently, with the Panthers’ opening bat striking his third century of the summer on Saturday to guide his side to a 190-run win over the Camberwell Magpies.
The request has filtered down the batting order too, with Dhanusha Gamage and Josh Slater now looking difficult to remove once set.
Forsyth said Donnell’s release of the shackles on early scores with the proviso each batter capitalises when getting in has worked for the entire side.
“I have been able to do it four times, you prefer that than getting 20 and getting out,” he said.
“Tom Donnell spoke to me at the start of the season and said he would prefer me to make big scores and low scores rather than try and hold the innings together.
“That’s been a really strong motivation for me when I bat, to go big and if it’s not my day then that’s okay, I trust and rely on the batters in the team, they’ve really stood up.
“To have a batting group that’s doing that is certainly making my job easier at times, I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the guys at the other end.
“I feel like we have an improving team that is on the way up rapidly, you throw all of those things together and it’s been really enjoyable.”
Forsyth – who now has 22 Premier Cricket First XI tons – said Donnell’s approach was a “more enjoyable way to bat”.
“For me, I think it’s allowed me to play a little bit more freely and accept that I am going to have some good days and poor days,” he said.
“It used to be: be a bit more dour, scrape a score together, make sure we’re in the game.
“Now it’s: let’s go out and win the game, play your shots when the ball is there.
“When the direction is to do that and the people within the team know they are going to come off sometimes, it’s a more enjoyable way to bat. Hopefully it can continue for the rest of the season.
“There’s no magic recipe for it, it’s just trying to eliminate getting in and getting out, Tommy says it all the time, ‘when you’re in, make it your day and impact the result’.
“He wants us to play more freely without fear of going out early.”
Forsyth leads the Panthers with 649 runs but Gamage (465) and Slater (422) are also in the competition’s top 10.
He said their breakout seasons had been “two or three years in the making”.
“Some of the players that are really stepping up have played a lot of really solid Second XI cricket for a number of years,” he said.
“Slater and Gamage, Matt Wilson has been working really hard too, that’s been really important, they feel comfortable, they belong.
“I think it goes a bit further back than this off-season but in terms of Tom, he’s very clear on what he wants to achieve, he’s positive, his feedback is direct.
“The players enjoy playing together, for him, the club. When you create that environment, and have skilful players, there’s really only one outcome.”
Dandenong sit a win outside the top eight with Geelong and Greenvale Kangaroos in the final two games of the season.
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