Off season recruit ends 95 over drought to deliver man of the match performance for Tasmania
Spinning all-rounder Tom Andrews had started to question when his first wicket in Tasmanian colours would come before a match winning spell lifted the Tigers to their first win of the season.
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IT TOOK Tasmanian recruit Tom Andrews 571 deliveries for his new state to finally snare a maiden wicket.
Such are the cricket gods his second came two balls later.
The former South Australian left-arm spinner had endured a frustrating period for his first wicket as a Tiger, sending down 95 overs across two Sheffield Shield matches — the first which started last October — and a Marsh Cup fixture for no reward.
And the wait continued following six fruitless overs against Victoria on Wednesday until Matthew Short cut a delivery straight to Jordan Silk at cover and Jake Fraser-McGurk was trapped lbw for a second ball duck.
Andrews added Bushrangers skipper Peter Handscomb to his collection to finish with 3-45, earning man of the match honours as Tasmania secured its first victory of the season in any format with a comfortable six-wicket result.
“It definitely was disappointing to not do as well as I would have liked [in his first few games] but in some ways it is good having three different formats in cricket,” Andrews said.
“When I got the first one my first thought was ‘I never thought that was going to come’, definitely a bit of relief and then I got a second one straight away.
“In every format you just try and back yourself, sometimes you are not going to take wickets but it was my turn, which was definitely relieving.
“I had waited a while for my first wicket.”
The Tigers have little time to celebrate the success, quickly backing up against an in-form Travis Head and his Redbacks Friday at Junction Oval.
Andrews said while he is looking forward to locking horns with his former teammates again, building momentum in the 50-over format is the primary focus.
“My first Shield game was against SA and a bit weird playing in Adelaide as well, I suppose I am looking forward to it but trying not to think about playing the former state too much.
“Hopefully we can run with it. Two in a row would put us in a strong position and in the mix for finals.”
The Tigers will likely regain Riley Meredith after the recently capped national T20 quick sat out the clash against Victoria due to COVID-19 border complications for the Bushrangers.
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