Geelong young gun Will Rodda hits century in Premier Cricket fourth grade
Will Rodda was recognised more for his bowling than batting, but that might change after a hundred in his first game of the season. And an injury has proved to be a blessing.
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Will Rodda was a bowler that could bat a bit.
That was until a stress fractures in his foot at the back-end of last season sidelined him and kept him out of bowling.
It saw the 18-year-old hone his craft with the bat over the pre-season with Geelong. And in his first game of the season, he went bang.
Rodda posted a sparkling century in Premier Cricket fourth grade, hitting 102 from 135 deliveries against Carlton on Saturday.
Geelong development coach Jack Rodgers hadn’t seen much of him with the bat previously, but he had seen the hard work Rodda had put in over the pre-season.
“It was really impressive, probably one that surprised us a little bit, but in a way not (surprising) because he had done the work over the pre-season and hit a lot of balls and worked his backside off on his batting while he couldn’t bowl,” Rodgers said.
“He batted beautifully, came in at a good time in the sense of we lost a couple of wickets and got through a really difficult period before tea.
Rodda had some handy middle-order knocks for Geelong College in the Associated Public Schools (APS) competition last season, but it was with the ball that he was most impressive.
Along with his 329 runs, the fast bowler was equal-second for wickets with 24 scalps.
Rodda won’t be able to bowl until after Christmas, but until then can continue to showcase the other weapons in his arsenal.
“It probably has shown us he has got a bit of ability with the bat as well, we hadn’t quite seen that and he hadn’t had the opportunity really,” Rodgers said.
“He has been able to work his way back in and show us that he can bat and hopefully be that number 7-8 all-rounder moving forward rather than pigeonholed to a quick bowler.
“It might be that he might be a bowling all-rounder and has the ability to bat through the order and play a really handy role at different stages with the bat as well.”
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Originally published as Geelong young gun Will Rodda hits century in Premier Cricket fourth grade
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