All in the family

It’s a warning which has reverberated across the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association for the last few years, and it’s only getting louder and louder – “watch out for Alwis.” The tricky thing is, no matter if you play seniors or juniors, the call is echoed. Ovens Valley United’s senior coach Geeth Alwis is far and away the best player in the competition – after dominating the batting and bowling charts last season, he sits with 437 runs at 87.40 with the bat and 16 wickets at 6.13 with the ball in the one day season alone. He also lays claim to the highest individual score of the season, having cracked an incredible 155* from 127 balls against City Colts. “Because of the role I have as a coach, I just want to lead by example, so every week I’m just going out there, regardless of the opposition, and I want to score runs and lead by example,” Alwis said. “If I make myself do better, then the rest have to follow that – if I’m not doing well, I can’t ask someone to do the job.” While the patriarch has taken the top level by storm, Geeth’s sons are quickly making a name for themselves in the under 12s. The elder, Thenuk, is enjoying a breakout season in the Under 12 Blue division, sitting second overall in the batting charts, with 212 runs without losing his wicket. His 48* (23) and 52* (32) at the start of the year certainly turned heads, but what captured attention was his stroke play, cracking off shots and looking like a much older cricketer. His work with bat and ball have earned him representative call-ups in both his seasons in the WDCA. “He’s just spending more time in the net – whenever we get some free time, both boys go in the nets with me,” Geeth said of Thenuk. “If you ask a few people around rep cricket, the difference with Thenuk is he’s just playing proper cricket shots. “He drives the ball beautifully down the ground where other kids are pulling the ball cross-bat. “That’s the difference, he stands out from the other players – when other kids are slogging, I got Thenuk to flick the ball over mid-wicket instead of slog-sweep. “I want him to take cricket at a senior level, I’m always training him as a senior cricketer, I’m always talking to him, giving him situations to overcome. “Even in training, I’m not just throwing him a ball, I think that way he’s taken his cricket to a different level compared to the rest.” The younger son, Linuk, burst onto the scene only recently, making his under 12s debut for Ovens Valley United Orange against top of the table Rutherglen on 17 January, at just nine years of age. He would have one of the statistically best debut matches ever, taking 4/0 from his one over, including a hat-trick. Linuk would create a stumping off his first ball in cricket, bowl a dot, then target the stumps to bowl two and create a catch, all in succession. Alwis admitted he wasn’t sure if the nine-year-old was ready for the transition to a proper cricket ball, but he was blown away. “Myself and my wife thought he wasn’t ready yet - I started working with him in the nets, and he was so keen, but as parents, we thought he wasn’t ready yet for the hard ball,” he said. “[Under 12s coach] Josh Harris asked me to send Linuk to fill in for one game because he was short of numbers that game, so we bought him some new cricket shoes and sent him, but we didn’t expect him to do that well. “It’s something I’d love to do in my cricket career, it’s been close to 30 years and I couldn’t do that. “That’s what he keeps telling me now, ‘at least I’ve got a hat-trick’ – he’s setting a higher benchmark for myself and Thenuk now.” Thenuk and Linuk will resume their seasons on Saturday, 7 February, with an OVUCC under 12 derby, while Geeth and the A graders take on Wangaratta Magpies.

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