A veteran captain, a teenage up-and-comer and a Glenn McGrath-like young weapon head up Western District's dynamic bowling attack that will look to upset Queanbeyan next week in the Cricket ACT one-day first grade competition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Luke Powell starred with the ball on Saturday for the Lions in their round six win over ANU, taking 4-24 in a dominant display, and skipper Scott Murn had high praise when describing what makes the 22-year-old so dangerous.
"Glenn McGrath would be the comparison I'd make," Murn, who also had 3-15, told The Canberra Times.
"I maybe wouldn't say that to his face - to keep him grounded - but he's been brilliant.
"He just hits line and length beautifully from ball one and doesn't give you anything.
"He's relentless, and able to find a little bit of swing and speed movement when it's on offer as well."
Powell leads the team's bowling attack, and has gone from strength to strength in the side since joining the club three seasons ago.
"He's a country boy but moved to Canberra to study at UC and he's been a staple of our first grade side," Murn said. "He's a real competitor and very skilful with the ball in hand."
Powell fell just short of his first five-for of the year on the weekend, but does have form to do so.
In a stunning season last year he had an impressive 5-20 off 10 overs in round three of the one-day competition.
"He actually made the ACT Cricket team of the year, which was fantastic reward for his on-field performance, and he's been a reliable performer for us with the bat, too," Murn said.
"But a great thing about our team is that we've got variety in our bowling attack.
"We've got four fast bowlers and two spinners and they have a different sort of style to attack and look for wickets, and also contain the game. It's really well balanced."
Viswesh Suman is the youngest of the group at just 17.
In second grade last year the teen had club-best figures of 6-13 from eight overs, and has looked comfortable in senior cricket with 5-70 after six rounds (which included two matches abandoned due to rain).
Murn has shown his class and experience with the ball, too, with Siddhartha Sharma, David Waters and Brayden Jones rounding out the bowling lineup.
They'll all need to be at their very best next weekend when Western District face the ladder-leaders Queanbeyan at Freebody Oval.
Sitting third on the ladder, the Lions are approaching the game as a must-win with finals around the corner.
"If we win, we're in the semis, and if we lose, we're probably not - so it's all to play for next week. It's a bit like a quarterfinal for us," Murn said.
"In the games that we lost this season, we felt like we had chances to win, we just lost those crucial moments. I expect that we'll continue to get better and better as the season goes on.
"So I don't think our game plan changes too much for Queanbeyan. If we execute our skills with the bat, with the ball maintain good pressure and support that with high energy fielding, I think we'll challenge any team in this competition."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram