Coach role for teen ‘veteran’

THERE was no hesitation from Nichols Point opening batsman Nick Blacker when he was approached about coaching his cricket club.

The 19-year-old has embedded himself in the Sunraysia Cricket Association institution in the two seasons since joining from Warrnambool and will likely be the youngest coach in the competition when the new campaign begins.

Blacker takes over the role from Luke Coates, who will continue as a first division player.

“It’s a great club and a great place to play cricket and I want to give back as much as I can,” the young batsman said.

“I’ll definitely be one of the younger coaches but I’ve always had leadership aspirations coming up through the ranks.

“We’re very keen to get organised as quick as we can, get into recruiting and be ready for the next season.

“It’s probably my sixth season playing first division cricket, so I think I’ve played enough cricket now to take on it on board, and what helps is having a really good group of core players around me like Shaun Mathews, Shannon Bowen, Dean Fulco, Dale Chappell, all these experienced heads who are more than happy to help me out along the way.

“The likes of Deanne Marr, Karl Ferguson, Vas Saris and Aaron Fry … all of these people have made a significant impact positive impact in my time in Mildura on and off the field and work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the club running.”

Blacker has been at the helm of the club’s under-14 and under-16 teams over the past two seasons.

The left-hander was one of his side’s best performers lasts season, scoring 515 runs with five half-centuries as the Pointers finished inside the top two for the first time.

For the second season in a row, they fell short of Irymple in their semi-final match-up.

“Finishing second was a bit of an improvement for a home final, and we also played in the one-day and the Twenty20 finals, unfortunately on all those days we just weren’t good enough,” Blacker said.

“I don’t think our semi-final loss was a good reflection on the playing group, we all came to consensus at the end of the game that we’re a better team than that but we keep building.

“We’ve still got plenty of young guys around, Colby Marr is 15 and is going to be a fantastic cricketer, Riley Jobson is only 18, Lewis Dichiera is 17 and then we’ve got some guys in the twos we’ll be looking to call upon like Oli Murray, Brodie Ryan, Charlie Butcher, so we really have some good youth in our side mixed some experienced heads.

“Pretty much the whole side have said they will go around again which is great.”