Euroa finishes its Haisman Shield season with a bang

The Magpies started the day’s play needing to chase down Tatura’s total of 222 for victory.

Coming in at number four Hamilton played a masterful knock, scoring 71 not out off 166 balls, including six fours and two sixes.

The captain was aided by Nicholas Hill (41 runs off 114 balls) and young tail-ender Walter Jackson (15 off 39), with the latter playing a crucial role in the Magpies’ chase late in the innings.

Hamilton was glowing in his praise of 15-year-old Jackson as he believes the young all-rounder is one to watch for the future.

“He (Jackson) was huge,” Hamilton said.

“We are under no illusion that he is only 15 years old, and he has come in and played multiple roles throughout the year, and he has contributed to our side in multiple ways.

“Walter Jackson will be a very, very good cricketer for a long period of time and we are starting to see him morph from a junior cricketer into a senior cricketer.

“I think yesterday was a real testament to him and his character.

“When he came in we had lost a few wickets and he came in and we made a real conscious effort to steady the ship.

“We said we are not going to take away your flair and ability to score runs, but let’s just bunker down a little bit and get through the hard stuff.

“He played some great shots, and he did a really good job.”

After the Magpies lost their first nine games in the Haisman Shield the young side finished the season on a high with victories over Northerners last round and Tatura on Saturday.

Hamilton believes there are a variety of reasons why Euroa has finished the season off so well, but what the captain is truly proud of is the commitment his players showed at the weekend.

“I think the win yesterday and the one we had last round is a culmination of things, but the boys really dug in deep and showed the commitment that we wanted them to show all year,” he said.

“We tried to achieve small objectives throughout the year and we tried to develop our young group and it was nice to see the fruits of our labour.

“I knew that last week we had really set ourselves up with our bowling and fielding efforts and we mixed up our batting order a little bit.

“I certainly don’t put a microscope on my effort. I was just there at the end of the day.

“It’s always nice to get a few runs and I do say the pressure was off us a little bit.

“We were just there to enjoy each other’s company and I probably didn’t feel as much pressure as what I had in the past, so it was nice.”

Euroa finished the season in 12th place, while Tatura ended up in ninth.