Premier Cricket: Michael Wallace scores his third century for Casey South Melbourne

With help from determined tailender Jackson Fry, Michael Wallace crafted a century for Casey South Melbourne against Ringwood in Victorian Premier Cricket.

WITH Luke Wells returning to the UK and Lachlan Sperling out injured, Michael Wallace served as Casey South Melbourne’s captain in the final round.

And the left-hander did a fair impersonation of the heavy-scoring Wells, cracking an unbeaten 113 to put the Swans well in the match against Ringwood at Jubilee Park.

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It was Wallace’s second century of the season, took his 2018-19 run tally to 547 at 49.7 and was his third three-figure score in Premier Cricket.

The one-time leg-spinning prospect has developed into a consistent and classy Premier batsman.

The tale of the day could be found in the Swans’ tail.

They were 9-222 when No 11 Jackson Fry joined Wallace at the creases. And they were 9-287 at stumps, the last wicket realising an unbroken 65 that carried the visitors towards 300.

Swans Jordan Wyatt, Luke Wells and Michael Wallace after their run feast against Essendon.

Wallace received 227 deliveries and struck 14 fours and two sixes down the ground off spinner Patrick Ashton.

Fry made 3 off 48 deliveries.

He must be Premier Cricket’s best No 11.

He hasn’t been dismissed in his last five trips to the creases and in Round 13 against Geelong he shared an 84-run stand with Nathan Lambden.

“It was great fun to bat with ‘Jacko’ ,’’ Wallace, 27, said.

“They (Ringwood) had just taken the second new ball and we just worked out some plans — whether ‘Jacko’ faced more of one bowler, if I would face four or five balls of the over and he had to get through one or two, that sort of thing — and we stuck to them.

“We had a plan for each over. We did that for as long as we could and it worked out pretty well.’’

Wallace said he had given no thought to a century when he began batting with Fry.

“I think I was 60 or 70, around there. We were just trying to get through each over and seeing how long we could bat for. There were about 20 overs to go in the day and we wanted to prolong it (the innings) for as long as we could.’’

Earlier young No 3 Joel Mitchell hit 53, with the left-hander facing 97 balls and putting away 4 fours.

Wallace is a fan of the former Victorian under-age representative.

“Joel’s got so much talent,’’ he said. “This season he’s really improved, put his head down. Last season we saw glimpses of his talent. He’d get 30s or 40s then play a bad shot and get out. Now he’s making bigger runs, batting for longer periods. I think he’s going to be a star.’’

As a teenager Wallace was considered one of Victoria’s best young spin bowlers when he joined St Kilda.

But the hype fizzed out.

“They came out well when I was junior,’’ he said with a laugh.

“Then I grew a lot and I stopped landing them. The batting took off more than my bowling. I still get sledged about it (his bowling) most weeks. They’re like, ‘I thought you were a leg-spinner!’ That was about 15 years ago. I don’t really care about it now.’’