He'd basically come straight off the plane from the snowy United Kingdom and into a semi-final at Stirling Oval, but "the heart and soul" of Weston Creek Molonglo was always going to deliver.
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A Harry Medhurst-inspired Creek will defend their Cricket ACT Gallop Cup title after brushing past Western District-UC in a 215-run semi-final thrashing on Sunday.
Creek will now suit up for their fifth consecutive one-day grand final - only one of which they have won - when they meet Queanbeyan at Phillip Oval on February 24.
Medhurst blasted 75 from just 44 deliveries to propel Creek to 315 and he was the chief destroyer with the ball on his way to 5-32 from nine overs to skittle Wests for 100.
Jet lag clearly isn't a problem for Creek's fifth-most capped player in first grade history.
"He is the heart and soul of the club really. He has been around for a very long time and he has played first grade for a very long time and been great for a number of years," Creek centurion Robbie Trickett said.
"He just got back from the United Kingdom so he missed the last couple of games, but to have him back was terrific for us. I think he flew back on Thursday so it was great to have him back for the semi-final.
"He batted really well and he bowled the house down."
Trickett's quickfire century (113 from 112 balls) laid the foundations for a mammoth total and wickets fell in bunches during Wests' run chase as the Lions crumbled to be all out for 100, dropping their second semi-final in as many weeks following a Twenty20 defeat seven days prior.
Medhurst cleaned up four of Wests' top five before Daniel McLean (4-26 from 10) took care of the rest.
"It was nice to get runs against Wests, I’ve never really done too well against them," Trickett said.
"We missed out on the Twenty20s which was unfortunate but we played really well [on Sunday] so it was good. Wests have been a really good team for the past 10 years so it was really good to play well against them."
Half-centuries to Dean Solway (71) and Vele Dukoski (53) saw Queanbeyan book their ticket to the decider with a five-wicket victory over Tuggeranong, shattering Shane Devoy's dream of a treble in the process.
AT A GLANCE
Cricket ACT Gallop Cup semi-finals: WESTON CREEK MOLONGLO 315 (R Trickett 113, H Medhurst 75; E Bartlett 4-57, A Taylor 2-47) bt WESTERN DISTRICT-UC 100 (M Condon 16, L Murchie 15; H Medhurst 5-32, D McLean 4-26) at Stirling Oval.
QUEANBEYAN 5-230 (D Solway 71, V Dukoski 58; B Floros 2-20, A Onus 1-11) bt TUGGERANONG 229 (T Floros 54, M Rogers 37*; V Dukoski 4-40, M Solway 3-41) at Chisholm Oval.
