By Noah Kelly
I was delighted to be able to score some runs which contributed to a win for Beaumaris in our most recent completed game, against the defending champions South Caulfield.
I finished with 71 not out in a four-wicket win chasing 232 against a side who had won the Southern Bayside competition for the last couple of years and were unbeaten coming into our game against them.
I played a lot more positively in that game than I did, for example, in our game against Murrumbeena, when I finished with 69 but we just fell short of winning it.
It helped that we had to go at six-an-over from the start, and I got a few away early on which gave me confidence.
Myself and our captain, Adam Bull, put on just over 100, but I slowed my tempo down when he got out. We lost quite a few wickets, so I had to take some responsibility and see it through until the end. I knew that as long as I was there at the end, we’d have a good crack at chasing it down.
Thankfully, things fell into place, which they hadn’t done earlier in the season.
We’re currently in the midst of a two-day game and will be batting tomorrow against St Brigid’s St Louis, who we bowled out for 190 last Saturday. We’re sixth in the table at the moment, and this is our sixth round. Hopefully we can get on a bit of a run now.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Noah Kelly at Scarborough earlier this summer.
That’s something we’ve managed to do in the early stages of the T20 competition we’re playing midweek out here in Melbourne. We’re the defending champions and have won two from two so far.
I’m really enjoying exploring my T20 game. It’s a lot of fun. I’d say my development in that has accelerated in the last year or two – I scored a T20 century in the twos this year.
I feel a lot more comfortable opening the batting or batting in the top three. But if I’m able to develop my skills going in at five or six and striking it from the off, it will definitely broaden my game.
I’ve been wicketkeeping in most games for Beaumaris, though not the one at the moment because I took a knock on my finger against South Caulfield.
We had to get last year’s keeper out of retirement to fill in for one game, but we actually forgot to tell him it’s a two-day game. So he’s doing two days in 32 degrees heat. That was pretty funny.
My keeping, I see as a big part of my game.
I first did it as an Under 11 because I realised how terrible a bowler I was!
Picture courtesy of Beaumaris CC. Noah Kelly keeps wicket during his winter in Melbourne.
I wanted to be in the game, and I fell in love with it.
It keeps you involved and gets you used to the pitches.
I’m glad I’ve got the opportunity to do a full season of it over here, and it’s a great challenge given different conditions out here, with the heat and stuff.
I’m working hard on it during the week. I’m training twice a week on it and playing on a Saturday. I’m getting a high volume of catching, which will hopefully put me in a good place for next summer.
How do I see myself as a cricketer?
If you ask me again in four or five months, I’d like to say a wicketkeeper batter. At the moment, I’d say that I’m a batter who can also be picked in a team as a keeper.
There’s a lot more T20 opportunities around now, and I think my keeping can get me into that side of the game.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Noah Kelly receives the Yorkshire Supporters’ Association Emerging Player-of-the-Year award at Headingley in September.
Someone like a Tom Kohler-Cadmore picked it up quite late in his career and got picked in a few franchises and kept in them, including the Hundred and the Yorkshire Blast team when he was with us. But I don’t want that kind of thing to be the ceiling with my keeping.
I want to be a day in and day out keeper.
If I can aim to be Yorkshire’s third choice keeper, I think that would be a nice goal. If required, I can keep in the firsts or seconds, and my batting would obviously come with that.
I’ve spoken about my enjoyment for playing T20 cricket and exploring that side of my game, but there’s no doubt that red ball cricket is still my favourite format.
I’d take being part of a winning Ashes team over being part of a T20 World Cup-winning team. That’s just because of how difficult and rewarding Test Cricket is.
It’s the true test of any cricketer. If they can go and be a Test Match player for a long time, that’s very difficult to do. But there’s no reason why you can’t do both.
Adam Lyth is a great example of that, someone who does it day in and day out in all formats. He’s played Test Matches, and he’s now playing in the franchise world.
Picture by John Heald. Noah Kelly has hailed Adam Lyth’s ability to switch between formats.
His ability to switch between the two is remarkable.
He scores so many T20 runs for Yorkshire even if he’s coming off the back of a red ball game, and visa versa.
Someone like him is a great role model for myself, especially as a left-hander at the top of the order.
With that in mind, I’m really looking forward to the two Test series coming up. Australia v India has started today, and then it’s New Zealand and England next week.
I’ve got members ticket for day one of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, and I’ll probably end up trying to get tickets for days three and four as well.
It’s going to be a really exciting series.
Nathan McSweeney is going to open the batting for Australia, and there’s been so much talk about that out here.
Picture by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images. Nathan McSweeney opened the batting for Australia against India at Perth today.
I’ve actually played against Sam Konstas, who was spoken about as a possible option, and he destroyed us when I played for the Young Lions against Australia at Loughborough last August.
He got 80-odd against us opening one day and then came back and batted at six the next and smashed 104 off 66 balls. It was ridiculous. I thought he’d get picked in these Tests having seen that.
Virat Kohli’s form is also a hot topic out
For me, Australia have the edge mainly because of their bowling attack. I’m going to go 4-1.
Just going back to those Young Lions games….Another player who played in that, for England, was Freddie McCann.
In the space of almost 12 months, he’s gone and made his debut for Notts – against Yorkshire in a Blast game at Headingley in July – has done really well across the formats and is now with the England Lions in South Africa.
It shows that if you can work hard, do well and keep backing up your performances, selections will come. It’s a great lesson for us all.
Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images. Joe Root and Harry Brook will line up for England against New Zealand next week.
As for the England Test series, there’s no doubt that New Zealand have their tails up after beating India in India. But the way Brooky played in Pakistan will give them flashbacks to the last time England were in New Zealand and he whacked 186 off 176 balls at Wellington.
I think it will be a pretty even series, but the way England play is such a great spectacle. I think they’ll win.
I haven’t met up with the other Yorkshire lads in Melbourne yet – Ben Cliff, Harry Duke and Will Luxton. They’re just a bit out of town from where I am. But we have a fitness testing day in a couple of weeks, which will be fun.
I certainly don’t envy the lads doing their fitness work and putting in the hard yards back at Headingley with it snowing outside. But now they’re back in training and some of the fixtures are out, the excitement is building already.
Quite whether I will be sticking with the full on mullet I currently have when I come back home, I’m not sure. But that’s what I have at at the moment after one of the Beaumaris lads came around the dressing room and restyled for me.
