Premier Cricket: Tom Smyth bats 100 overs to take Carlton through to the preliminary finals
All concentration and determination, Tom Smyth batted 100 overs for 67 not out against Dandenong to take Carlton through to a Premier Cricket preliminary final.
South East
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It was the day the strokemaker turned stonewaller.
Tom Smyth is usually a free-scoring batsman for Carlton, as he showed during the club’s triumphant National T20 championship campaign in Adelaide.
He cracked 51 off 26 deliveries against Dandenong and 77 off 47 against Sutherland.
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But on Sunday he played the most obdurate innings of his career and of the Premier Cricket season.
Opening the batting for the Blues against Dandy in the qualifying final, Smyth batted 100 overs, faced 288 balls and finished 67 not out.
He gave the Panthers no chances to get him out.
Carlton only had to draw the match to earn a weekend off and advance to the preliminary final.
It came in at 3-217 in reply to 299 as Smyth settled in for breakfast, lunch and tea on a flat Princes Park wicket.
Every dot was a step forward for the hosts.
Ironically, the Blues had rattled along in the first session via dashing left-hander Brayden Stepien, who laced 83 off 113 balls, with 10 fours and 2 sixes.
For those following the final online, it was as if mycricket had gone on the blink in the second session.
Runs had flowed in the first two hours but now they came at a trickle.
Harry Smyth joined his brother and took 64 deliveries for his eight runs.
Nick Ross (25 off 83) also held up Dandy, who lost paceman James Wilcock with a hamstring injury after he had bowled a handful of overs.
Captain Evan Gulbis (32no off 52) was with Smyth when the draw was achieved.
Blues coach Warren Ayres said his opener played an “outstanding’’ hand for his team, his concentration and determination unwavering.
“I didn’t expect that he’d be able to bat for six hours and play with such surety for the whole time,’’ he said.
“You’d think there’d be one shot within that time where he would lose it. But he didn’t. The whole day he played at the same tempo and kept the ball out.
“He didn’t worry about the score. He just worried about the result, and that’s pretty good going.
“It’s really hard to do. I couldn’t imagine there would be many players who could do it. There would be players who would at some point in the day would want to score freely. I’m not saying he didn’t want to, but he just stuck to his task and made sure from one end we weren’t going to lose a wicket.’’
Ayres said Smyth had opened the batting this season and worked hard on his technique without getting the results he would have liked.
“So for him to stay out there on Sunday and do that … was a great innings for his side,’’ he said.
“I’m sure they (Dandenong) were frustrated but I think in the end they’d be complimentary of what he did, batting for that long period of time. He didn’t give them a sniff. He turned into a wall.’’
Ayres said Smyth was such a good T20 player that he “should be looked’’.
“He can bat, he can bowl and he can field,’’ he said.
The match was also notable for Dandenong captain Tom Donnell’s 11th century in Premier Cricket.
The left-hand opener hit a career-high 152 off 256 deliveries before being caught behind down the leg-side.
Ayres called it a “magnificent’’ knock.
“He played as good an innings as anyone could play, in my view,’’ he said.
“He probably played and missed three times for the whole day and hit every ball right in the middle of the bat. Outstanding from him.’’
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