Victorian Super Slam: Glen Maxwell blitzes unbeaten century for Fitzroy-Doncaster

Glenn Maxwell phoned the Lions asking for a run in the Victorian T20 competition. And he played a remarkable knock at the Bill Lawry Oval.

Stars captain Glenn Maxwell lit it up for the Lions. Picture: Steve Tanner

Four hours before Tuesday’s night Victorian Super Slam match against Northcote, Fitzroy-Doncaster captain Ejaaz Alavi took a phone call from a Lions player asking he could play in the Twenty20.

“Of course you can,’’ Alavi replied.

The player making the call was Glenn Maxwell.

And the Melbourne Stars captain gave a brutal display of batting at the Bill Lawry Oval.

The Dragons hit 3-180 but the Lions replied with 5-185.

Maxwell cracked 125 not out off only 61 balls, putting away 9 sixes, four of them in one over.

His performance attracted little attention in Victorian Premier Cricket circles since the online scores were incomplete.

Maxwell batted at No 3 but walked to the crease in the first over of the run chase.

“Chasing 180 is never an easy task in T20, but we were always ahead of the rate. He looked like he was doing it easy,’’ Alavi said of the club’s international.

“Then towards the backend he killed the game with a few sixes.

“Really, really good to watch.’’

The Lions hadn’t select Maxwell in the team because they assumed he was tied up with Stars commitments.

But he had returned to Melbourne and was on the golf course with a Geelong player when the Super Slam matches were mentioned.

“At around 1pm he gave me a call and said he was keen for a hit and did we have a spot for him,’’ Alavi said.

“I said absolutely, of course you can, if you want a spot you’ve got one. So at 4.30pm he rocked up at Northcote, played and had a good hit ahead of his next game with the Stars.’’

Alavi said Maxwell played with Fitzroy-Doncaster every time the chance arose.

“He loves being around the guys and giving advice to all our young guys,’’ he said.

“Even after the game he had plenty to say about what we did well and what could have done better. It’s amazing to have him around, great for the club as a whole. We’re very lucky.’’

Maxwell joined the Lions in 2007-08 and has played 78 First XI matches.

Routed on Saturday in Premier Cricket, Casey South Melbourne hit back in Tuesday’s Victorian Super Slam match at Walter Galt Reserve.

Place an emphasis on “hit’’.

With skipper Michael Wallace and guest player Bradley Erasmus cracking half-centuries, the Swans struck 10 sixes in a rousing batting display against Kingston Hawthorn.

They finished at 4-188 and bowled out the Hawks, Round 1 Slam winners, for 95.

Wallace opened the batting and scorched 78 off 50 balls, with 8 fours and 3 sixes.

If he wasn’t lifting the bowlers over the top, he was paddling them fine on both sides of the wicket; he blended fire with finesse.

The left-hander was given run out well into his innings, but Hawks keeper Joel Lewis, unsure if he collected the ball cleanly as he disturbed the stumps, withdrew the appeal.

Englishman Erasmus, playing with South Caulfield in the Cricket Southern Bayside Championship, clattered 6 sixes in his 59, which came off only 42 balls.

Bradley Erasmus walks off after his start turn in the Super Slam.

The Swans figure he’s far too talented to be playing local cricket and it won’t be a surprise if president Shaun Petrie and coach William “Will’’ Carr ask him about his plans for 2022-23.

The tall right-hander first came to notice playing Sub-District cricket for Elsternwick.

Paceman Jade Christensen took 3-32 off four overs for the Hawks, who made a horlicks of their run chase. It was as if they had decided they needed to get the bulk of the runs in the first five overs.

Left-armer Jackson Fry removed openers Thaveesh Attanayake and Ramneet Dhindsa, and then paceman Nathan Lambden castled Kingston Hawthorn’s marquee player and Round 1 centurymaker Jack Taylor for one.

The Hawks were 3-11, which became 5-17 when Lambden picked up Abhi Jain and Shorye Chopra, both caught.

A few merry blows from Nivin Sathyajith (26 off 18) and Prateek Patil (26no off 23) took them close to 100, but all up it was a dismal performance.

Lambden had Kingston Hawthorn supporters – and there were a lot of them last night, enjoying a drink and a barbecue – talking about his pace as he collected 3-11 off his four overs.

Fry nabbed 2-18 off three, spinner Luke Shelton 3-11 off four and Cal Dodson 2-39 off 2.5.

The Hawks took a liking to big Cal but he at least took the last two wickets to dress up his figures.

Swannies coach Carr said it was a fine performance from his side.

He said Wallace and Erasmus batted superbly and Fry and Lambden chopped off the run chase before it really began.

“At 5-17 it’s game over,’’ he said.

Carr said of Erasmus: “Yeah, we might have a quiet word over a beer to see if he’s interested in playing at a level that he probably should be playing at.

“No doubt that will form a conversation in the not-too-distant future.

“He’s just turned 24 and he knows his game. He’s got an excellent temperament, composure. The way he built his innings … he batted with the guy who was in, knocked it around, assessed the conditions and the bowling, which end of the ground he wanted to attack, which bowlers he wanted to attack … it was fairly clinical, really.’’

St Kilda youngster Jack Cunnington also took a star turn in the Super Slam, cuffing 55 off 41 balls as the Saints swept past Camberwell Magpies.

Cunnington hit 8 fours and 1 six.

Richmond thrashed a depleted Frankston Peninsula, with Dom Matarazzo snaffling 4-6 as the Heat subsided for 74.

VICTORIAN SUPER SLAM ROUND TWO

Melbourne 5/152 (cc) CJ Lill 47 HJ Demattia 28 JW Harper 25 NJ Boland 2/24 def Prahran 8/139 (cc) BA Parsons 42 J Billington 33 KR Williamson 4/22 FP O’Neill 3/34 at Albert Ground

Richmond 6/144 (cc) K Viccars 60* S Mills 38 L Cox 2/18 JW Hastings 2/30 def Frankston Peninsula 74 DJ Matarazzo 4/6 S Mills 2/18 J Hesline 2/19 at Central Reserve North

Footscray 5/144 TJ Dean 52 DJ Sartori 26 A Mohammed 2/32 SG McNicholl 2/38 def Greenvale Kangaroos7/140 (cc) H Singh 59 MC Birthisel 3/23Mervyn G Hughes Oval

St Kilda 6/135 AJ Crosthwaite 62 JA Cunnington 55 TC Nelson 3/20 RF Jamieson 2/22 def Camberwell Magpies7/132 (cc) RM Guddadamane 65 TR Murphy 2/15 at CitiPower Centre

Carlton 4/179 (cc) J Lemire 70* C Rutland 46 NJ Ross 38 LP Bowe 2/24 L Molloy 2/28 v Essendon 8/131 (cc) EE White 45 F Chowna 33 D Sullivan 3/10 C Rutland 2/19 EC O’Sullivan 2/31 at Princes Park #1

Kingston Hawthorn 95 N Sathyajith 26 P Patil 26* N Lambden 3/11 LJ Shelton 3/11 JN Fry 2/18 C Dodson 2/39 def by Casey-South Melbourne4/188 (cc) MT Wallace 78 Walter Galt Reserve (Main Oval)