By Russell Bennett
Jess Mathers arrived at Kooweerup for the 2015/16 WGCA Premier season with plenty to prove in the eyes of many.
The firebrand all-rounder joined a side accustomed to success and set out to show just how much of an asset he could be to a first XI built on a team-first mentality.
And since then he’s forged a reputation as one of the best all-rounders in the competition – one of its most lethal quicks, and one of its most formidable hitters.
The perception of Mathers from those who don’t actually know him would clearly be disputed by those who do.
“I rate him as one of the best all-rounders in the competition – right up there with the likes of Dom Paynter,” said multiple premiership-winning Demons keeper-batsman Chris ‘Wombat’ Bright about his great mate, the 29-year-old Mathers.
“He can just do so much damage with either the bat or the ball.
“His bowling has probably come on more than his batting, and we’ve relied on him to bowl some pretty big spells for us.
“He just does his role within the team and plays his natural game.”
Bright said Mathers would typically put a fair bit of pressure on himself with ball in hand to start Kooweerup off on the right foot.
“If someone is bowling well at the other end too, it makes him stand up even more,” Bright said.
“He probably hasn’t got the amount of wickets he could have because he beats the bat a good 15, 20 times a game.”
In a few short seasons Mathers has enhanced his reputation as arguably the competition’s premier strike bowler. In his two full seasons since joining the Demons he’s taken 37 wickets at 17.92 and 43 at 12.88. This season he’s already taken 21 scalps at just 9.48.
The numbers don’t lie – 101 wickets in 39 matches across all forms of the game at an average of just 14.02 since joining Kooweerup.
“The more he bowls in a spell, the better he gets,” Bright said.
In Mathers’ first season for Kooweerup – in his first genuine test on the finals stage for the champion side – he took a brilliant 5/52 off 33.4 overs against Cardinia in a semi-final.
Wombat captained that side.
“I just told him we needed him to keep pushing and he was unbelievable for us,” he said.
“When he came to us everyone else said: ‘Why Kooweerup? They’re already a premiership side?’ but he just said he wanted to help us win more.
“He’s just fitted right in since coming across.
“Once you get to know the guy, he’s a genuinely great bloke.”
Demons captain-coach Mark Cooper said Mathers was not only “a critical component of the team”, but added “the team almost revolves around him”.
“It’s just his presence as a strike bowler, and with his batting you definitely take the good with the bad just because he’s so damaging”.
Mathers showed exactly that on Saturday against Clyde in his third hit of the season – belting a hard-hitting half-century from the middle order that included some trademark towering sixes.
He followed that up with 2/0 in two overs to have the Cougars sitting on 2/7 at stumps.
“I think he’s still improving and maturing as a cricketer,” Cooper said.
“He was too good of a player not to have won a flag (prior to last year), but in three or four games last season we batted him at six or seven – he didn’t get a free ride with us.
“He faced different kinds of pressure with us because he wasn’t just gifted his spot with bat or ball.”
Batting predominantly in the middle order, Mathers has also scored 911 runs at an average of 30.37 in just over two seasons as a Demon so far.
Cooper said there’d been a lot of growth in Mathers’ game since he first faced him as an opponent years ago.
He’s since gotten to know him much better and the pair even sit next to each other in the rooms on game day.
“I’m pretty open and honest with him, and he’s the same with me,” Cooper said.
“He’s got his opinions on the game, and I think that’s great.
“It’s really healthy that we can challenge each other at times.”
Cooper said Mathers had embraced life as a family man with his wife Meaghan and son Fletcher and with that had brought more maturity – even in his cricket.
“The care he takes with his game has increased in our culture, I think,” he said.
“He’s really embraced his role.”
