Premier Cricket 2021-22: Why Camberwell Magpies have impressed new coach

Camberwell Magpies coach Ben Ryan explains why there’s been plenty to be thrilled about in his side’s start to the season...

They’re coming from a way back, but Camberwell Magpies coach Ben Ryan believes his side’s start to the season has it on the right track.

While the Magpies’ First XI sit 15th on the ladder with a 1-2-1 record, Ryan, in his maiden season as coach, is adamant the improvement has been substantial following a four-win season in 2020-21.

“What’s been most pleasing is we’ve been pretty consistent with the way we’ve competed,” Ryan said.

“We’ve had good performances with bat, ball and in the field and the boys are playing a good, competitive brand of cricket that we want to play and be known for.

“The spirit of the group’s terrific, we’ve got selection headaches ... we could’ve easily been 2-1, or 3-0 if we had played a bit better in patches of games.”

Liam Fitzpatrick produced his first Premier half-century last Saturday. Picture: Camberwell Magpies CC

But it’s not just the First XI Ryan has been impressed by, and a number of names in the Second XI continue to mount a case for top-flight selection.

“Our first 12 games plus one T20 that we’ve played as a club, we potentially could’ve won all of them,” he said.

“We haven’t been blown away in any of them and we’ve been in every game until late. The standouts have been the seconds so far, they’ve had one narrow loss and two good wins.”

The Magpies fell to reigning premier, Prahran, on Saturday, but the occasion was marked by young gun Liam Fitzpatrick with his maiden Premier level half-century, knocking 67 not-out.

Ryan said the No. 5 had been in fine touch recently, having scored 96 runs off 68 balls in a T20 Cup match for Hawthorn, on loan as a marquee player on November 30.

“He balanced determination with some really good scoring shots (on Saturday),” Ryan said.

“It gave us means to put a competitive total on the board … what was most impressive was how mature he was, because we still needed him to score.

“But we needed him to bat through, and if he didn’t bat through then we wouldn’t have batted the overs and we couldn’t have got anywhere close to where we needed to.”

Meanwhile, Ryan said the list remained mostly healthy, with the exception of vice-captain Will Walker, who has been sidelined with a torn hip flexor, and it’s uncertain if he’ll be back before Christmas.

The Magpies take on Essendon at Windy Hill in Round 5.