Lethbridge captain Hayden Spiller drops himself down order to find form with the batt

A GCA captain’s move to drop himself down the order has worked wonders, going from averaging less than four runs to more than 70. Find out why.

Hayden Spiller has had a change of fortunates for Lethbridge since dropping down the order. Picture: Mark Wilson

A change in the batting line up at Lethbridge has brought a change in fortunes for skipper Hayden Spiller, who says he does not plan on reverting back anytime soon.

The GCA4 club captain spent the opening month of the season batting fourth in the order, compiling a “miserable” three ducks, 15 runs and an average of 3.75 in the first four games.

But a move down the order has helped him find form, scoring 142 runs (average of 71) while batting at No.5.

Hayden Spiller on the move. Picture: Mike Dugdale

“It’s a funny game, cricket, I just felt like I was struggling in the nets to hit the ball,” he said.

“I was getting the timing all wrong, I felt like my bat lift wasn’t great either, so I tweaked a few things and then I felt like I was starting to hit the ball a bit better.

“It can go one way for so long, then it can just go the other way just as hard, so I’ve been feeling good lately and it’s been good to capitalise on a bit of form.

Hayden Spiller has found form with the bat. Picture: Mark Wilson

“I think I’ll stay at number five, we’ve got a few blokes coming back that we can slot into the top of the order, plus I’ve been seeing them at five and there’s no point changing it now.”

Spiller made an undefeated 103 in a win against the previously undefeated Little River in round 5, and has helped steer Lethbridge to second on the ladder with a game against Teesdale next, on Saturday.

He said the start to the season had been more positive than years past, and he was excited at the club’s prospects in finals.

“We focused on starting the season well, our last few years in GCA3 we made the finals but every time we were poor before Christmas and had our backs up against the wall,” he said.

“We’ve had to pull ourselves out of trouble after Christmas, but with our good start we can look to maintain our top four spot, rather than scrap for it late in the year.

“Most clubs in GCA4 have a couple of good players, which generally makes everyone competitive, so to be able to get off to a good start to the season is important when the competition is so tight.

“Looking at it, there’s probably seven teams that think they can make the finals from here and that shows how even the year is.”

Originally published as Lethbridge captain Hayden Spiller drops himself down order to find form with the batt