Jason Floros' resume suggests he could be expected to shoulder a bigger load than the rest of his teammates. But the beauty of Tuggeranong Valley is simply that he doesn't need to.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Floros (85) played a lone hand with the bat as Vele Dukoski's 5-42 restricted Tuggeranong to 176 in the Cricket ACT Douglas Cup on Saturday, and the Vikings star feared it wouldn't be enough against an impressive Queanbeyan batting line-up at Freebody Oval.
But a late burst from his younger brother Benji Floros (2-23) and Nick Joseph (3-19) has left Queanbeyan in a scrap for first innings points after finishing day one at 7-126.
"They started to hit a few out of the screws through a little patch there, and Benji in a two-over burst there at the end was on a hat-trick and almost ready to roll through the tail," Floros said.
"We’ll come back next week and try to clean them up. If we get Tyler van Luin [13*] out early, it’s just a couple of kids left so it’ll be interesting to see how it ends up."
Floros' departure from the professional scene in Queensland paved the way for the Canberra product to return to Tuggeranong alongside his younger brothers Tim, Matt and Benji this season.
The oldest Floros has loved every second of his homecoming, and he has a chance to secure his first title since returning in the Cricket ACT Twenty20 Cup finals on Sunday.
Tuggeranong will meet ANU at Phillip Oval while Western District-UC will battle Ginninderra in the morning, with the winners set to battle under lights that night.
"It’s been a lot of fun, winning makes it a lot easier and we tend to win a lot of games. I’m looking forward to [Sunday], hopefully we can take home the Twenty20 title," Floros said.
"We’re definitely looking forward to it, we’ve just got to get to the semi against ANU, do what we do and hopefully get a win, then take on whoever."
He played 27 games of cricket's shortest format at the elite level but Floros isn't expecting his Tuggeranong teammates to come looking for too much help come finals day.
"That’s the beauty of what we’ve done, everyone has stood up in different games," Floros said.
"If I miss out or if Shane [Devoy] misses out, we’ve got a lot of guys who have put their hand up throughout the year to win us games.
"It’s just going to be whoever’s turn it is, we’ll get behind them and hopefully we can get away with a win."
Wickets fell at a rate of knots all around the capital on Saturday, with Wests crumbling for 173 in the midst of a Brad Thomas onslaught (6-44).
Ginninderra finished on 3-70 to give themselves a mental edge before the sides reconvene for their Twenty20 semi-final date.
Weston Creek Molonglo are on the cusp of an outright victory over North Canberra-Gungahlin after skittling the hosts for 84 at Harrison Oval. Creek skipper John Rogers (64*) soon declared at 2-161 before Norths stumbled to 3-36 at stumps.
ANU tail-ender Lewis Evans' stern resistance with the bat (16 from 115) helped the Owls to 171 before he claimed two late scalps to leave Eastlake stuttering at 3-21 at ANU North Oval.
CRICKET ACT TWENTY20 CUP FINALS
Sunday: Semi-finals - Ginninderra v Western District-UC at Phillip Oval, 10.30am. Tuggeranong Valley v ANU at Phillip Oval, 2.00pm.
Final - Winner SF1 v SF2 at Phillip Oval, 6pm.
