An unbeaten century from Daniel Medway has guided Macquarie to a big total on day one of their round one RSL-Whitney Cup clash with Newtown at No.2 Oval.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The all-rounder, making his return to the club after missing the 2016/17 season, made 142 not out as the Blues piled on 8-319 from their 75 overs.
Medway came to the crease with the score at 2-46 in the 10th over following the fall of openers Ed Haylock (0) and Nick Cosier (34).
He batted for the remaining 65 overs of the day, hitting 13 boundaries and clearing the fence twice.
There was also some good support from the ever-reliable Jason Green (50), Ryan O’Connor (21) and late in the innings from number 10 Waseem Kahn, who made an unbeaten 38.
“I got lucky a couple of times. I got dropped when I was about 50 and there was an LBW appeal I thought was probably close when I was in the 90s, but luckily I survived and got there,” Medway said
“That partnership late with ‘Wassy’ was a big one. In the end I was happy to pass the strike over to him because he was batting so well and I was a bit tired.
“We put on about 80 there at the end, and that was the difference between a decent score a good score. It’s given us something to bowl to next week.”
Bowling is something the off-spinner is probably going to have to do plenty of this coming Saturday.
As if making a century isn’t enough, Medway will be called upon to get through plenty of overs on a wicket that didn’t provide much assistance for the bowlers on day one.
With Jeremy Dickson unlikely to bowl due to an ongoing back injury, the bulk of the work will fall to Angus Cusack with the new ball and Medway with his spin.
“To be fair I’ll probably have to get down to the nets and see if I can land the ball on the right side of the pitch during the week, because I haven’t done much bowling in the pre-season,” Medway said.
“With ‘Dicko’ not really able to bowl we’re going to have to find some overs from a few of the other boys, and there wasn’t a lot of bounce or movement for the bowlers, so we will just need to be patient.
“Newtown has a pretty good batting lineup with Jordan Peacock, Mat Skinner, Wayne Dunlop and Dan Holland, so we have to expect there will be some partnerships.
“Energy in the field and taking our chances when they come will be a big thing, but it’s good that we’ve got the runs on the board.
“It certainly puts us in the box seat, and winning some games early in the season is pretty important.”
