TOM Holmes’ extended summer homecoming to Mildura has proved fruitful for the Mildura West First Division cricket team.
The 27-year-old came back from New York, where he works as a teaching golf professional, just before Christmas to visit family and make a handful of guest appearances for West.
However, delays in getting a visa back to the US have given him the opportunity to get his eye back in batting at No.3 for fourth-placed West, who will play pacesetters Gol Gol in a Sunraysia cricket semi-final this weekend.
The forecast extreme heat of 42 degrees forced the SCA to cancel play on Saturday and make the semi-final a 40-over one-dayer on Sunday.
Holmes has averaged a solid 29.4 across all forms of cricket this season, but he had a purple patch last month where he made 99 in First Division and backed it up with T20 knocks of 65 and 49.
Incredibly, he hadn’t picked up a cricket bat for a few years before quickly finding form for West’s top-grade side.
Holmes this week reflected on his return to the West First XI.
“I went down to training at West when I got back and the ones happened to be a bit short that week before Christmas,” he said.
“I felt pretty good in the nets at training and got the call-up. I was a little bit scratchy early on, but after Christmas, I started coming into some good form.
“Last month, I had a pretty good run of not quite getting to milestones.”
He said he had “gone back to basics” after a lengthy absence on the cricket field.
“When you’re consistently playing, you tend to forget some of the fundamentals of the game,” he said.
“One of the first things I did was make sure I watched the ball closely.”
Holmes believed the semi-final heat will be on Gol Gol.
“The pressure’s all on them this weekend. We have nothing to lose after being on the fringe of making finals for a number of weeks,” he said.
“Gol Gol’s a top side and they have home-ground advantage, but if we put them under early pressure, then we can play the game under more of our terms.
“The other thing is that Gol Gol’s had a run of losing flags (against Mildura Settlers). There’s always those little demons there. You know, ‘what if we lose it again?’ and ‘are we really the best team?’”
Holmes said his team were heading into the finals with “a lot of momentum”.
“Obviously ‘Willo’ (star opener Chris Williams) has been outstanding again this season,” he said.
“But everyone has been doing their job in the team and I’m happy to be part of it.
“Anything can happen in an elimination semi-final, and if we play the kind of cricket we’ve been doing lately, I think we’ve got a good chance of beating them.”
Even if his US working visa is approved before next weekend’s grand final, Holmes said he would remain in Mildura at least until the end of the month.
While he is due back in New Rochelle to resume his work as a golf pro at Wykagyl Country Club in a fortnight, it was his American girlfriend of 18 months, Kate DiRaimo, really tightening the screws on his return.
“Yes, there’s a fair bit of pressure there,” he said, laughing.
Holmes moved from Mildura to the US in 2015 to attend university and embark of a professional golf career.
After playing college golf and completing a computer science degree, he landed the job at Wykagyl, where he is one of six teaching pros.
“The golf course there is unbelievably good. It’s kind of in the second tier of exclusive clubs in what’s an affluent area,” he said.
“It doesn’t have the notoriety of some of the other nearby courses like Winged Foot (Golf Club), where the US Open was played (in 2020).
“But it’s hosted some big tournaments. There are photos of Ben Hogan and other greats playing there, and it was hosting an LPGA event there for 10 or so years.
“It’s a great place to work and I’m looking forward to getting back into it.”
