Premier Cricket 2018-19: Camberwell Magpies batsman Simon Hill reaches 10,000 runs
Camberwell Magpies great Simon Hill joined an elite group of cricketers on day one of the Round 12 clash against Footscray, becoming the eighth player to reach 10,000 Premier Cricket runs.
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It’s been one record after another for Camberwell Magpies great Simon Hill this month.
Just two weeks after bringing up his 300th game for the Premier Cricket outfit, the stylish left-hander joined an elite group of cricketers on day one of the Round 12 clash against Footscray at Merv Hughes Oval.
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With a single to mid-on off Dogs spinner Siddhesh Dixit, Hill became just the eighth player in the competition’s 112-year history reach the 10,000 run milestone.
“Ambled through and that was that,” Hill said.
“I wouldn’t say I was nervous, I was just looking forward to getting it done and out of the way.”
🆠MILESTONE | Simon Hill - 10,000 PREMIER 1st XI RUNS ðŸ†
— Camberwell Magpies (@MagpiesCMCC) January 28, 2019
With his innings of 62 against Footscray on Saturday, @SimonFHill passed 10,000 @vicpremcricket First Grade runs.
On behalf of everyone at CMCC, congratulations to Simon on this magnificent career milestone! #GoPies pic.twitter.com/R0h84Ozdgb
Hill needed 37 runs on Saturday to join the exclusive club, topscoring in the Maggies’ total of 293.
A countdown clock organised by Camberwell scorer Anthony Grace ensured everyone at the ground knew history beckoned.
Hill’s knock of 62 took him to 57 half-centuries, to go with his 15 centuries, lifting him to 10,025 runs since debuting 16 years ago.
He joined Warren Ayres (15,277 runs), Gary Watts (12,933), John Scholes (12,693), Jack Ryder (12,677), Peter McAlister (11,893), Andrew Kent (11,032) and Darren Dempsey (10,154) as the only other batsmen to reach the mark.
Hill and Kent share an unfortunate piece of history. They are the only two of that octet to not have played first-class or Test cricket.
“Andrew Kent I suppose is a contemporary of mine, so to be chasing him down is nice and he was a very good player and made a power of runs,” Hill said.
“All those cricketers could obviously bat a fair bit and were very good batsmen for their clubs. To go past any of them I’ll have to play for a little while longer.”
Hill made his First XI debut in 2003-04 under the captaincy of Camberwell great Damian Shanahan.
When Hill first relocated to Melbourne from his hometown of Wangaratta, he moved in with Shanahan as he found his feet in the big smoke.
Shanahan said Hill’s talent was evident as a teenager.
“We were very keen at the time to make him a First XI player as soon as possible and give him that exposure,” Shanahan said.
“You could always see Simon was a class player as a young fella … he’s gone on to do what he has done, which is, in a way, not a great surprise to myself because I always backed him in to be a state player.
“For whatever reason that didn’t work out but the most pleasing aspect is he has given everything he’s got to the cricket club.
“There were signs there that he was going to be very successful and his dedication to his work, training week-in week-out, it is a magnificent achievement.”
Shanahan said Hill was unlucky to not have played first-class cricket.
“I had full faith at some stage in his career he would get that opportunity,” he said.
“Simon, as a young fella, rightly or wrongly, throughout his 20s people thought he was pretty laconic.
“Simon was always very elegant as a young fella but he’s the sort of guy who could be running full tilt but in second gear.
“That’s probably hindered him a little bit in his career but to be able to get to where he is, it’s a sensational effort.”
Shanahan said an “influx of the interstate guys” in the Victorian system had counted against Hill.
“In my opinion, he should have been able (to) at some stage and at least get a contract to have a good look at him and give him a chance to blossom in that environment,” he said.
“Unfortunately for him Victoria went outside their local products and got interstate players in to top their list up.
“You can’t fault their success, they won a lot of Shield cricket … unfortunately for Hilly and a few others in the competition, they haven’t quite been able to get to that level.
“It would’ve been nice at some stage to see Hilly get an opportunity.”
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