THE late-season form of most of Greg Dickson’s teammates has made the Bombers one of the most cohesive units in the SHDCA.
One bloke might have even usurped him as the key to the Bombers.
With his batting coming on in leaps and bounds recently, teenager Bohden McKnight’s all-round performances meant he was currently the Bombers’ most important player.
McKnight opened the bowling for the Bombers the past three seasons and was now one of the best bowlers in the competition, as shown by his inclusion in the SHDCA team of the year.
He was ultra-consistent, picking up two to three wickets most weekends, taking 29 wickets at 16.72 this season.
Young stars can falter on the big occasion, but Dickson held no such worries with McKnight.
“He’s played in a lot of grand finals in other sports and has always performed on the big stage,” he said.
“He was bowling at good pace and hitting the deck hard in the nets last night again – if he can bowl the right lines, I think he’ll trouble a few of the aggressive St Mary’s batsman.”
It was McKnight’s batting, however, that had been a catalyst for the Bombers’ significant improvement.
Sent in to do a tough job at first drop early in the season, he struggled, but confidence was found after a move to No.5.
Since that change, he in a five-week period rattled off scores of 44, 37 and 43.
Dickson said it had cleared the kid’s mind.
“I think he struggled a bit when he was batting at three – it’s a big workload and a lot of pressure to open the bowling then come in at first drop,” he said.
“So, we moved him to No.5 to give him a bit more time between innings, and his batting has improved big time.
“He’s really freed up and started to play his shots at a good strike rate.”
