From premierships to representative call-ups a mile long, Mitch Bower has achieved a lot on the cricket field.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the powerful batsman achieved a rare feat over the weekend when scoring centuries on back-to-back days.
The South Dubbo captain belted 114 not out in his side McDonald’s Megahit semi-final win on Friday night before backing that up with a brilliant 168 on day one against CYMS in the RSL-Whitney Cup on Saturday.
“I’ve never scored two hundreds in two days before so I was pretty happy with myself,” Bower said.
Bower was near flawless for his Castlereagh Hornets on Friday night, blasting six sixes and six boundaries against Christies Crackerjacks.
That helped his side post 2/186 from its 20 overs, with Henry Railz (36) also contributing in a 69-run opening stand.
Bower then proved he wasn’t all about clearing fences, as he took the ball and claimed 4/13 from four overs to help dismiss the Crackerjacks for 116 and leave no one in any doubt as to who was man of the match.
According to Bower, his form pre-Christmas wasn’t all that red-hot but the chance to spend more times in the nets and at training has helped his form take off in the second half of the season.
Saturday marked his third century in less than three weeks after his a Twenty20 ton against the Bob Berry Blasters on February 14.
“I always enjoy my cricket but it was a bit tough before Christmas with work and family but I’ve been getting to training since then and been putting in a lot of effort and its good to see the results going my way,” he said.
“It’s just about training. It improves things and it all flows from there.”
The results certainly are going in Bower’s favour and with him in such sparkling form the Hornets have strung together a number of wins.
Friday night’s win over the Crackerjacks booked passage through to this Friday’s decider against the Amaroo Hotel Tigers while the side also has more than one foot in the Whitney Cup finals after posting 7/326 on Saturday.
When speaking about the looming Twenty20 final against the Tigers, Bower was his usual confident self.
“Every team I’m in I think can win any match and I won’t be changing that approach,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter who we play, we know we can beat them.”
While confident, the Hornets skipper said his side also had to be wary as “anything can happen” in Twenty20.
The Hornets are an example of that as at the start of the season the Megahit competition was seen as more of a way for the side to have a bit of fun and give an opportunity to people who don’t get the chance to play much first grade.
And despite the side now a chance to collect some silverware, little changes.
“We just have fun and play our shots and enjoy the time out there,” he said.
“We play to win but its not the end of the world.”
As well as Bower on Friday night, Jack Busch also bowled well for the Hornets and finished with 3/32 from four.
For the beaten Crackerjacks, Ricky Medway (34) and Jason Green (31) made 67 for the first wicket but there was little else of note.