By Jonty Ralphsmith
It’s been a busy preseason for Devon Meadows junior Will Halton.
The young ‘keeper-batter was one of 39 players named in Cricket Victoria’s under-19 male emerging players squad in July and has made the leap to Vic Premier Cricket club Casey-South Melbourne.
Halton has trained at Junction Oval twice per week during preseason under the tutelage of Jon Holland, Nick Speak and Xavier Crone, who have more than 250 first class matches under their belt collectively.
It follows the teenager plundering more than 400 runs in each of his first two seasons of First XI cricket for Devon Meadows.
“It’s probably been my most full-on preseason so I’ll be ready to go in round one,” Halton said.
“It has been so tough – they’re quicker, smarter and more consistent so that’s been good.
“Being around them has exposed me to how skilled players go about their crafts and I try to pick up what I can.
“I’ve never been that challenged before, I’ve always felt confident in my game.
“I’m playing with and against quality cricketers so it’s stressful at times but I’ve got so much out of the coaching which has been unreal.
“You can’t get away with not being at your best – tiny mistake are amplified.”
Halton has been a regular in representative sides in recent years, notably selected in the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association’s Country Week squad last season.
Backing the skillset which has long had others earmarking big things for the teenager has been a challenge.
“The biggest gap going from junior (representative cricket) and beyond is that everyone has the shots, but it’s how you think during it and before,” he said.
“The hardest thing about Country Week for me was mental.
“I’ve got these big adults who have played for around 10-20 years, I haven’t even been alive that long.
“It was interesting to see how I held up against strong opposition when there was no limit on age – there is a lot of quality smart cricketers so it was a challenge I really enjoyed.
“For the most part I thought I managed to keep up with them but it was good to figure out how to work around things when I’m not feeling as confident and when a player might be better than me.”
Those around Devon Meadows are in awe at the reliability of Halton, who regularly keeps up to the stumps to the Panthers’ quicks.
The transition to turf cricket, however, has highlighted minor technical glitches in Halton’s keeping which has been the focus of his preseason, alongside batting with intent.
Having opened the batting with run-scoring machine Lucas Ligt for the past two seasons, the pressure has naturally been on opposition bowlers, which has allowed Halton to bat his way, but he understands the importance of expanding his game.
“In the shorter formats it has been boundary or dot for me,” Halton noted.
“I have focussed on looking too pretty and playing the right shots – I’m trying to work out how to face the least amount of balls as possible and get up the other end.
“In the middle overs I can pin myself down and I just want to keep scoring and accelerate my strike rate.”
The Swannies’ season starts against Frankston-Peninsula on Saturday, with Halton likely to make his debut in the Third XI.
“I just want to perform the best I can and push up the grades as quickly as I can because my goal will be eventually to play ones for Casey; but baby steps, I have to perform well in the (lower grades) before I even think about that,” Halton said.
“I am aiming big but I’m not trying to get too ahead of myself.”
