IT hasn’t taken long for returning English spinner Aaron Feroz to have an impact for Mildura West.
The 21-year-old ‘offie’ starred in his first two-day game back for his adopted side, strangling the Nichols Point batters to take 5/29 from just 27.5 overs, conceding just over a run per over.
He also added an unbeaten 23 in the lower order as West defeated the Pointers by three wickets.
Feroz’s performance earned him the SCA Coomealla Club Player of the Round nomination.
West have won both games that the Hartlepool native has played in, leaving them in the thick of the chase for a top four spot with three rounds remaining.
“It’s been a good start for me coming back in, but also the team has been in good form as well,” Feroz said.
“It’s nice to be contributing early on and to take a five – for, hopefully I can get a couple more as we look to get into the top four.
“At the moment we’re just taking it game by game, starting with Mildura East this week. I think we haven’t always had the best record against them so we’ve got to be ready to perform.”
It seemed like only a minor miracle would actually get both sides on the ground for day two on Saturday after last week’s deluge flooded the Nichols Point Oval.
Curator Geoff Leng was able to clear the majority of the moisture to allow the teams to play.
“I was a little worried on Friday, it didn’t look too promising with some of the photos I saw and even on Saturday morning there was still a bit of water there, but hats off to the ground staff who did a brilliant job to ensure we could play,” Feroz said.
“In the end it played out fine. The pitch still played well, while there was one area that was still a bit wet it didn’t seem to affect the game too much at all.”
Feroz side the economy of the West bowling unit on day one was testament to their patience.
“You’ve got to be patient in two-day cricket and if you bowl well hopefully the wickets will come,” he said.
“As a bowling unit I think we did brilliantly and we took our catches when we got the chance which made a real difference.”
Despite West finding themselves in early trouble at 4/12, Greg Lewis helped the side along with 50, with Shane Driscoll (31), Chris Williams (29), Feroz (23) and Brandon Dixon (20) all playing important roles in the chase.
“They bowled really well to us early on but the experience of guys like Greg, Willow, Dicko and Dris was important,” Feroz said.
“Having those sorts of guys around is invaluable, they just help keep everyone calm.”
As the SCA Player of the Round, Feroz receives a $50 voucher from the Coomealla Memorial Sporting Club.
