Nick Wood is the one turning heads across Canberra but he thinks it's only a matter of time before two of his Eastlake teammates are turning heads on the world stage.
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Wood tore through the ANU batting order to claim 7-21 from 10 overs with three maidens and set up a comprehensive six-wicket win for Eastlake at Kingston Oval on Saturday.
Teams across the competition were understrength for round four of the Cricket ACT Gallop Cup with a host of players turning out for the ACT Aces in Cricket NSW's Regional Bash in Wagga Wagga.
But Wood's effort meant a change in the XI was never going to bother Eastlake, who now boast a former Sri Lankan under 19 international in Nushan Weerasinghe and his fellow countryman Akeel Inham.
"The culture of the club is better than it’s ever been," Wood said.
"We’ve got a couple of young Sri Lankan kids who are playing with us now, who might be playing in the national team pretty soon as well which is really exciting for us going forward.
"As we play the better sides I’m sure they’ll show how good they are and their calibre of play."
As memorable as the day was for Wood, it was equally as forgettable for ANU after they were rolled for just 86 inside 32 overs, with just three players managing to crack double figures with the bat.
Wood dismissed six of ANU's top seven before the hosts chased down the meagre target inside 19 overs with Mitchell Taylor-Briscoe (21) and Weerasinghe (21) topping the scorecard.
"It was just straight up and down most of the time, they got themselves out most of the time. It was just a good day for the team, two wins in a row now," Wood said.
"The first two rounds haven’t been that good personally so it was good to contribute. It’s just good that the team is winning again. That’s my best statistics in first grade for sure, it’s very pleasing."
Wood's stellar showing pipped Thomas Atallah's five-wicket haul as the best return of the day, after the Weston Creek Molonglo newcomer cruelled Phil Coe's return to first grade after 14 years out of the top flight at Stirling Oval.
Atallah claimed 5-33 from 10 overs with two maidens as Norths folded for 164, before impressive knocks from Jonathon Nicoll (60) and Sam Myburgh (44) saw the hosts cruise to the target with seven wickets in hand.
The win continues Creek's unbeaten start to the one-day competition but they've got company at the top of the table in Tuggeranong.
A Michael Barrington-Smith century (106 from 125) propelled Tuggeranong to a dominant 90-run victory over Queanbeyan at Chisholm Oval.
Ginninderra duo Jak Willcox and Nicholas Owen claimed identical figures of 3-48 to lift the Tigers to a resounding 41-run triumph over Western District-UC at Jamison Oval.
Meanwhile, Ginninderra's Rhys Healy spearheaded the ACT Aces to victory in their opening match of the Regional Bash against the Murrumbidgee Rangers at Wagga's Robertson Oval.
Healy belted an unbeaten 44 (28) to help the Aces to an eight-wicket win as they chased down Murrumbidgee's total of 112 inside 12 overs.
The Aces will return to action on Sunday to meet the Wagga Wagga Sloggers and Border Bullets in back-to-back games, with the winner of the pool advancing to the Twenty20 competition semi-finals on December 2.
AT A GLANCE
Cricket ACT Gallop Cup round four:
EASTLAKE 4-87 (N Weerasinghe 21, M Taylor-Briscoe 21*; L Evans 2-24, S Sharma 1-11) bt ANU 86 (W Todd 22, B Smart 20; N Wood 7-21, L Harman 2-19) by six wickets at Kingston Oval.
WESTON CREEK MOLONGLO 3-167 (J Nicoll 67, S Myburgh 44; M Aubrey 1-16, L Whatmough 1-37) bt NORTH CANBERRA-GUNGAHLIN 164 (M Aubrey 68, R Ryan 24; T Atallah 5-33, A Cowie 3-37) by seven wickets at Stirling Oval.
TUGGERANONG VALLEY 261 (M Barrington-Smith 106, M Rogers 59; T Van Luin 3-38, V Dukoski 3-42) bt QUEANBEYAN 171 (L Walker 40, V Dukoski 33; S Devoy 3-22, C Devoy 3-24) by 90 runs at Chisholm Oval.
GINNINDERRA 221 (D Faram 86, M Hogan 42; M McGann 4-32, B Duffy 2-30) bt WESTERN DISTRICT-UC 180 (C Taylor 73, B Dean 49; J Willcox 3-48, N Owen 3-48) by 41 runs at Jamison Oval.
Cricket NSW Regional Bash:
ACT ACES 2-113 (R Healy 44*, C Spink 25*; C Bock 1-15, D Bennett 1-29) bt MURRUMBIDGEE RANGERS 4-110 (D Bennett 56, A Edis 20; S Murn 1-17, E Rahman 1-21) at Robertson Oval.
Sunday: ACT Aces v Border Bullets at McPherson Oval, 9.30am. ACT Aces v Wagga Wagga Sloggers at Robertson Oval, 1.30pm.
ACT Aces squad: Ethan Bartlett (c), Corey Spink, Rhys Healy, Scott Murn, Jordie Misic, Esam Rahman, Robbie Trickett, Josh Watling (wk), Jack Allen, Josh Low-McMahon, Ollie Anabel, Djali Bloomfield, Praveen Mathai.
