Young gun fires for Vics

By Ben Hope
HAMPTON Park teenager Ben Hillard is looking forward to returning to his usual duties with the Dandenong second XI after playing for Victoria in the recent Under-17 National Championships.
Opening the batting for the state side in five of the seven championship games, Hillard described the experience as “good fun.”
“It was different to anything I have done before but I had a lot of fun,” Hillard said.
“But it was also a bit more challenging.”
Despite earning a batting average of 22.8 from five games the 17-year-old said he would have liked to have scored higher for the team.
“I thought I performed well, but I would like to have done a little better and put a few more runs on the board,” Hillard said.
His best innings came in the sixth round of the competition when he made 38 off 103 balls against New South Wales at Adelaide’s Prospect Oval.
Victorian under-17s coach Rob Cassell said the young player performed his role perfectly, opening the batting in the two-day games. “His role was basically to get through the new ball for us and he played his role perfectly for the team,” Cassell said. “He’s got quite a solid defence, which is why we put him in the order.”
In the field Hillard managed five catches to help the Victorian side come in second overall, behind Western Australia.
Hillard was the opening batter in all five of the two-day games he played but sat out the first two Twenty20 games of the competition against South Australia and Tasmania.
“Everyone in the team had to miss out on a least one match and I am probably not the best at Twenty20 games so it was ok,” Hillard said.
Beginning his Year 12 year at Lyndale secondary College, Hillard hopes to eventually play in the Dandenong first XI after making his debut with the side last season.
Victorian coach Rob Cassall was also impressed with Hillard’s club-mate, James Wilcock, who claimed 11 wickets at an average of 22 to help the Victorian team win four of its seven championship games.
The right-hander starred with the new ball throughout the tournament with a stand-out performance in the one-day loss against Queensland where he took 4/44 before hitting 45 off as many balls.
“He was our fast bowler. He swung the new ball and took early wickets for us, so he was a valuable contributor,” Cassall said.