By Nick Creely
Ashley Chandrasinghe may just be in the early stages of his cricket career with Casey-South Melbourne, but in such a short amount of time the youngster has plenty of people talking.
The left-hander is a stylish batsman – rock-solid defensively, patient, but with an aggressive flair that can’t be understated.
It’s why the Swans are so excited about what he can produce for years to come, whether it’s with the white or red ball.
“He’s a great young player, but he’s a great young guy, and he’s really popular with the group and works so hard on his game,” Casey-South Melbourne coach Brian Keogh glowingly said of his young star.
“I was saying to him the other day, he sets such a great example to the other young kids coming through, and he’s only 19 himself.
“For other aspiring youngsters coming through, they can look up to Ashley – he started in our fourth XI and has played through and established himself.
“We hope he’s got a really long career for Casey-South Melbourne, but we also hope he’s got a career hopefully above and beyond that.”
In just eight matches, and seven innings at the top-level of Victorian Premier Cricket, the young man has incredibly made a glittering century on debut, 70 last round, and now – just on Saturday – another match-winning hand.
Against Frankston Peninsula, Chandrasinghe guided the Swans to victory after a few shaky moments, crunching an unbeaten 98 from 132 balls at the top of the innings.
The Heat won the toss and elected to bat at AH Butler Oval, with both sides desperate to bounce back after similarly disappointing results last round.
There was some early drama for the Swans, with spearhead Nathan Lambden, succumbing to a shoulder injury in the opening moments, forcing senior assistant coach and ex-Victorian quick Will Carr to race onto the field as sub-fielder.
Nick Mann (20) and Vishesh Bansal (48) got the home side off to a fluent start but it took yet another momentum shifting spell from emerging left-arm spinner Ash Adihetty to change things.
Adihetty – who snared 3/25 against the Hawks in Round one – pried out the openers with his tidy lines, leaving the home side at 2/69.
With Cal Dodson (3/41) bowling once again with great energy and getting some reward, fellow new-ball partner Jackson Fry (1/29) tidy, and all-rounder Lachie Sperling (2/42) snaring two vital wickets in Heat skipper Brodie Symons and Jai Elcock, the Swans restricted the home side to 199.
But the home side were determined to not let the target be run down with ease, taking two early scalps to leave the visitors 2/12.
Jordan Wyatt (32) took the bowling on to get the scoreboard moving along, but his wicket along with classy keeper batsman Devin Pollock within minutes put Symons’ side in the box seat.
With plenty of class, Chris Benedek withstood the pressure to build a strong partnership with Chandrasinghe, who was commanding things and starting to find fluency in his innings.
The pair racked up a match-winning stand of 129, with Benedek compiling a vitally important 52 from 77 balls, while Chandrasinghe went close to compiling his second Premier Cricket century in a brilliant batting display that saw him occupy the crease for over three hours.
In his brilliant knock, he sent the ball to the boundary nine times, with one of them over the fence for six.
Dylan Hadfield then sealed the deal after the dismissal of Benedek, crunching a boundary from his only ball to give the Swans an important win against its local rivals, and its second of the season.
But despite Chandrasinghe once again showcasing his bright future, Benedek – still himself relatively young in his first XI career – gave a strong glimpse of his value in the middle-order.
Keogh said that he was incredibly pleased for the popular team man, describing it as a breakthrough knock in his career.
“It was a really high-pressured innings, and he took us all the way basically, and really soaked up the pressure,” he said.
“The last game last year against Melbourne Uni, he got a really high quality 70 odd and we thought it was going to be the breakthrough innings for him.
“But on the weekend in some ways it was more important – he came in at 4/70 and took us all the way.
“I said to the players and Chris after the game, all the guys were so supportive and strong that he needed to bat at six because he’s so good at closing at games, and fair play the players got it right. He closed that one out really well.
“You can get lost at times batting at six in one day cricket, but I’m really confident that he can make a really splash for us.”
Keogh praised his bowling group for its ability to adapt, pointing to the shrewd captaincy of Michael Wallace and lion-hearted bowling displays from quicks Jackson Fry and Cal Dodson, the spinners and all-rounder Dylan Hadfield.
“It was difficult for Cal to come on (when Lambden got injured) – he was standing at mid-on and all of a sudden he was bowling,” Keogh said.
“It’s probably not a surprise that they got away to a quick start, and Jacko was a bit unlucky.
“Jacko has been outstanding so far this season, he probably hasn’t had the rewards he deserves, and he didn’t get them again on Saturday – his figures from an economy perspective were first-class.
“Cal was terrific again, three wickets, he’s stepped up to the plate, and he looks like he’s up to the level already.
“And Wally’s doing an excellent job managing them too – he’s getting Ash (Adihetty) on around the eight, nine or tenth over, and Sperlo a bit later in the innings, and then on the weekend Dyl Hadfield did some grunt work through the middle and did an excellent job.
“It was first-class captaincy, and the guys stood up.”
With a 2-1 record and one clash to go before the Christmas break against the undefeated Melbourne at Casey Fields, a couple of names, including young spinner Isaiah Jassal are in contention to replace Nathan Lambden, who is expected back after Christmas. Sitting in 10th spot, a win could lift the Swans into the top-eight heading into the New Year.
