Premier Cricket: The rise of Camberwell Magpies skipper Liam Fitzpatrick

He’s figured among the best batsmen this Premier Cricket season at just 20 years of age, all while captaining the Magpies. Liam Fitzpatrick opens up on his rise ...

THE rising star cites a stop in the UK as the catalyst.

Camberwell Magpies captain Liam Fitzpatrick capped a breakout campaign last weekend with a 73-run effort, finishing the season with a career-best 707 runs at an average of 44.2.

His biggest haul came in Round 14 against Dandenong when he blitzed 154, backing up an 86-run stand the previous match against Ringwood.

Shooting from 401 runs the previous season, it’s been a climb for the Balwyn and Xavier product who debuted for the Magpies’ firsts in March 2021.

He toiled away for Cheshire league club Cheadle last English summer and reaped the rewards, finishing second in the Premier Cricket run-scoring this season.

Fitzpatrick finished second in the run-scoring this season. Picture: Camberwell Magpies

“It (the rise) is a little bit due to experience, (but the off-season) in the UK last year helped me go through different situations,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Obviously it’s a different style of cricket over there but it made me sort of learn about the risks and rewards to shots and how I play and that’s what I brought back to my game this season.

“We’re obviously not used to the moving ball as much, but just learning how to do the simple things right while the ball is moving, you really do get your rewards later with the small grounds there.”

The 20-year-old stepped into the captaincy this season and says the experienced heads of the club proved invaluable as he grew into the role, alongside coach David Alleyne.

In a lean year on-field for the First XI with just three wins, it was some baptism of fire for Fitzpatrick, declaring “we always go into every game thinking it’s a big game because everyone has something to prove.”

“Captaining those (one-day) games was fine, just try to stay aggressive and take wickets was my game plan,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I was a bit inexperienced in the two-dayers, so leaning upon the senior players, especially Will Walker was a tremendous help and learning over the years off ‘Fek’ (Andrew Fekete) and Simon Hill in my early days and how they went about it.

“Also learning how the opposition captains go about their cricket, because there’s great players across the competition, so there’s plenty to learn.”

Fitzpatrick after his maiden Premier firsts century in January 2022. Picture: Camberwell Magpies

While a Premier Team of the Year honour could well find its way onto his cricket CV, Fitzpatrick believes “it’s an honour in itself just being thought about being selected”.

The former member of the Victorian emerging under-19s squad turns 21 next month, but the weight of his achievements at the crease haven’t hit home just yet.

Fitzpatrick admits he had a few moments this season where he had to pinch himself.

“It’s all happened so quickly especially across the last month or so where I’ve hit a good patch of form, but definitely when playing Dandenong where players like Brett Forsyth and Tom Donnell were out on the field, it was kind of funny how I was with them,” he said.

“(They’re) batters who can control the game and had made big runs in finals for years – I think that was a pretty cool moment for me.”

While another off-season in the UK is a longshot, the commerce and finance student plans to return to university for the moment – but the door could be ajar for other cricket opportunities.

“Who knows?” Fitzpatrick said.

“There’s still a bit of planning that needs to be done … I didn’t plan on doing this well, so some things could change in the next few weeks.”