VSDCA 2022-23: Consistency key to Croydon improvement, coach says
The Cockies have registered just one win from the opening month in the VSDCA’s East-West group. Here’s where they must lift.
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Its opening month of the season has yielded just one win, but Croydon remains confident it can turn its fortunes around ahead of the Christmas break.
The Cockies sit 12th on the Subbies East-West ladder with a 1-1-4 record having lost their past four matches, following a finals berth last season.
Croydon coach Tom McQuinn pointed to inconsistency as his side’s undoing – an area he said it must lift in order to right its campaign.
“We’ve had good periods where we’ve been in control of the game, in all games really, we’ve been in good positions but we just haven’t capitalised, with bat and ball,” McQuinn said.
“We’ve let ourselves down whether it be in the back-end of the innings or having a collapse in the middle … a couple of times we haven’t started very well.
“And it’s the same with the ball – it’s basically a mirror image. It’s costing us matches.”
Experienced quick Chris Brown has been a standout for the Cockies so far with 10 wickets to his name from five appearances, including a best of 3-18 and an average of 12.10 across 38 overs.
“He’s performed every week for us and done a great job – he’s taken wickets up top with the new ball and come back and done the really hard work at the death for us,” McQuinn said.
“He’s obviously a senior player with a heap of experience, and he’s just quality – a great competitor.”
Croydon takes on a firing Balwyn outfit this weekend, which sits fourth on the ladder after toppling powerhouse Werribee last Saturday.
The Cockies face Williamstown (fifth) and Yarraville (14th) to close out the year.
McQuinn declared his group must improve “a lot” to remain in touch with the top six.
“We’ve definitely not got the cue in the rack, but we’re aware that the way we’re playing at the moment, every week poses its own challenge,” McQuinn said.
“But we’re not looking at the bigger picture, we’re just focused on Balwyn this week.
“It’s a huge task this week – they’re in red-hot form … we’ve played some really close matches against them in recent years and we’re well aware of how good they are.”
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