Cricket
28 January, 2025
Weidemann enjoys premier league experience
Rupanyup/Minyip Panthers' Hugh Weidemann enjoyed his experience playing for Victorian Premier Cricket Club Melbourne in the Dowling Shield for the under-16s, held from January 6 to January 21.
Melbourne made it to the semi-finals, narrowly missing out on a grand final berth. In the semis, St.Kilda defeated them with one wicket in a match that went down to the final over.
Weidemann only batted once in their match against Greenvale Kangaroos, where he scored four runs.
He also took three wickets with the ball. His figures were 1/16 (3) against St.Kilda, 1/3 (1) against Greenvale and 1/33 (5) against Footscray.
Weidemann said he enjoyed the experience and loved the grounds.
"It was a good experience, and I liked the grounds, and playing against other good cricketers was a good challenge," Weidemann said.
"Most of the time, I bowled alright except for one game where I was bowling too short, and I wasn't too happy with that one.
"The grounds are beautiful, and they are all turf wickets. Most of them were good, with the ball holding up a little bit.
"They were a decent size, and some of the grounds we played on had shorter boundaries, which made it more interesting."
This was Weidemann's first Dowling Shield, having been training with Melbourne for two years.
"I have a bit of work to do, and I need to bowl a bit quicker and control the length, and I thought I did that well in the semi-final," Weidemann said.
"I also need to be able to hit more boundaries, get bigger, and keep working to get better.
"It was a fun experience."