St Kilda skipper Adam Crosthwaite hits 29th century in grade cricket

As he reflects on his long career, Adam Crosthwaite warns against picking batsmen before they’ve made ‘big hundreds’.

Adam Crosthwaite scored his second ton for the Saints on Saturday. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The runs, and the tons, keep coming for St Kilda captain Adam Crosthwaite.

The former Victorian and South Australian wicketkeeper gave away the gloves in the 2012-13 season.

What he has hasn’t stopped doing is scoring centuries.

Crosthwaite’s 109 not out off 97 balls against Greenvale last Saturday was his second ton for the Saints and his seventh in Victorian Premier Cricket (he also hit five for Richmond).

When his performances in the NSW and South Australian grade competitions are factored in, his numbers assume an elevated status.

Crosthwaite cracked 15 centuries for Manly-Warringah and five for UTS North Sydney (one of them in the T20 format).

He also hit two tons for West Torrens during his two-season stint in Adelaide.

That gives him 29 centuries across the three competitions; no wonder one Premier Cricket watcher in Victoria refers to him as Bradman.

Crosthwaite’s hand against Greenvale was his first innings since Round 10, when he went down with a side-muscle strain against Casey South Melbourne, the type of injury more common with pace bowlers than batsmen.

In fact, he said, it was his first hit of any kind; taking it easy with his recovery, he hadn’t even batted in the nets.

“It was bloody painful even sneezing or coughing; I’ve got a lot of respect for fast bowlers who’ve bowled through it,’’ Crosthwaite said.

Adam Crosthwaite batting for Manly-Warringah in 2017.

The Saints had struggled without their skipper, but with one round to play they are assured of a position in the top eight.

Depending on other results, they could even sneak into fourth place; of course, St Kilda must defeat Frankston Peninsula in Round 17.

“To get a home final (for finishing in the top four) would be ideal,’’ Crosthwaite said.

“I think it will be important if there’s any weather around. But I think you could genuinely say you could win it from anywhere this season. You’ve got to win three one-dayers.

“That’s doable. But you could also lose your whole season with a bad 20 minutes. You could be on top and lose to whoever comes eighth in half-an-hour.

“We know how good Carlton are, particularly with Ev (Evan Gulbis) going so well. Melbourne are a great team and if ‘Whitey’ (Cameron White) plays through it will make life hard for everyone. But if you look at every team in the top eight there’s a scary player or two. It’s the same with us. I think the other teams would be looking at St Kilda and saying, ‘Gee, we really don’t want to get them on a good day’. Yeah, it’s going to be an interesting three weeks.’’

He said St Kilda’s bowling attack, headed by speedster Henry Thornton, and opener Michael De Iacovo could be its wildcards.

Crosthwaite said De Iacovo was capable of “ruining a game in 10 overs’’.

As for his own performances, he said he figured out to bat when he was 23 or 24.

“As an 18-year-old coming into the Victorian team, I played in what was an amazing era for the Vics and I was coming in at No 7 behind Hussey and White and McDonald and Hodge, and to be honest I was slogging at the end of an innings a lot of the time,’’ he said.

“I had some good one-day and T20 batting for Victoria but it wasn’t until the end of my time with Victoria that I worked out how to bat. I was probably thrown into the team before I was ready or knew the worth of how to make runs … yeah, I’m probably a casualty of that, as a youngster not thinking about my batting or worrying about my numbers as a professional.

“As much as you’ve got time on your side as a youngster, if you don’t grab the opportunity you become a middle-age player pretty quickly.’’

He added: “I genuinely wish I made my debut at 24 for Victoria. Looking back on it, that would have been more beneficial for my cricket.’’

Crosthwaite said that from his experience, it was better for talented young players to be picked on performance rather than potential.

He said the experience of making big scores in club cricket couldn’t be ignored.

“I don’t like to see kids pushed too hard, too early and get given games when they don’t understand how to make hundreds and make big hundreds,’’ Crosthwaite said.

“I’d love to see all batters playing for Victoria have at least four or five grade hundreds under their belts and if they’re that good, they should have that.

“I’m not sure picking them young is a great thing.’’