Premier Cricket 2020-21: Simon Hill stars with century in Magpies’ win

It was a vintage performance from Camberwell great Simon Hill on Saturday, adding another ton to his decorated CV as the Magpies notched their third win.

Simon Hill in action. Picture: Hamish Blair

It was a vintage performance from Simon Hill.

The Magpies’ star batsman put on 109 not-out on Saturday as his club chased down Kingston Hawthorn to notch its third win of the season, registering 5-203 to the visitors’ 5-202.

It’s Hill’s 17th century knock of his career, which last week added 300 First XI matches to a decorated CV.

The performance was complemented by the bowling effort of Will Walker, who took 4-39, including the scalps of Ramneet Dhindsa (79), Sam Newell (1), Jake Marnie (0) and Abhishek Jain (0).

Will Walker made light work of the opposition’s top-order on Saturday. Picture: Andy Brownbill

“It was good to get a few runs – I haven’t got many this year but it was nice to contribute and get a win,” Hill said of his performance.

“They’ve obviously got some guys that can be dangerous, we bowled very well in the morning yesterday and Will Walker got the top three which put us in front.

“We got the momentum, and they had a partnership with Dhindsa and Chopra and batted quite well, but we knew if we could get a wicket then, we’d certainly put the brakes on them.

“We were confident we could chase them if we still had some batsmen in the 50th over.”

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Liam Fitzpatrick made his mark in his First XI debut, with a knock of 41 from 64 deliveries.

“He came in and we still had plenty (of runs) to get – well over 100 to make at that stage and was part of a key partnership in the game yesterday, and he hit the ball really nicely and did a great job,” Hill said.

It’s been a tough campaign for the Magpies who sit 15th with a 3-9-1 record, but Hill’s season has been marked with multiple personal milestones to laud.

The Magpie legend’s 300th First XI match last weekend came after surpassing the 12,000-run mark in February of this year to go with 350 club matches reached this season.

The milestones add to a CV which reads nine-time Keith Stackpole medallist as the First XI’s club champion, five times the John Birch Trophy as the overall club champion, and topping the runs at the Magpies on seven occasions.

“I suppose it’s just the way that it’s played out that I’ve had a couple of milestones (this season) but it’s been tough for us this year,” Hill said.

“We haven’t achieved the things that we would have liked to achieve. Injuries haven’t helped us … I don’t know if we’ve had a week where we’ve put our best team on the park, but there’s no point complaining about it.”

After more than two decades since arriving at the club as a teenager from hometown Wangaratta in the 1999-2000 season, Hill said it’s the relationships that have made the Magpies a special place to play since debuting in the Fourth XI and carving out a distinguished top-flight career.

“Coming from the country, it can be difficult, and we often see a lot of country blokes go home. I was very lucky that I had a very strong friendship group at Camberwell – that’s where my mates are,” he said.

The Magpies face Footscray (away), Melbourne (home) and Casey-South Melbourne (away) in the final three weeks of the season.

Despite finals being out of the picture, Hill said the run home would serve as preparation for next season.

“We’ve got this last few weeks now to see if we can put some performances together and some of the things that we want to do in terms of our game-plan and strategy,” he said.