ANOTHER weekend of Victoria Premier Cricket Premier Men’s Firsts has wrapped, with plenty of impressive performances around the competition. In this series, we put the spotlight on one individual performance that may have caught the eye of teammates, opponents and fans. With plenty to choose from each week, it is worth mentioning that there will be some unlucky players that miss out on a weekly basis. This week, that honour belongs to Melbourne University batsman and keeper Noah Cross, who produced a stunning knock of 107 of just 90 balls in a match-winning performance.

This week’s player of the week award goes to Dandenong bowler Matthew Wilson, who produced a stunning spell. He eluded batsman all day, producing figures of 5/34, in a performance that likely won the match for his side. With his team finishing with a total of 235, it looked like Dandenong were in a strong position to win the match.

However this looked in jeopardy when Frankston Peninsula opening batsman Ryan Hammel came out in fine form. Hammel belted 90 runs off 125 balls, and brought his side within striking distance. When he was finally dismissed, Frankston Peninsula still looked extremely likely to produce a match-winning score.

Enter the bowling talents of Wilson.

He got the breakthrough wicket of Frankston Peninsula number three batsman Akshay Kodoth, who threatened to put together a strong innings with 28 runs, before Wilson was able to draw the edge as it snuck through to Dandenong wicket-keeper Sam Newell, who was able to take the catch.

This was almost instantly repeated with Frankston Peninsula’s fourth batsman, who unfortunately did not spend much time at the crease, dismissed for a golden duck. Once again the ball from Wilson was edged back to the keeper as his numbers boosted and Frankston Peninsula’s batting began to collapse at the hands of one man.

Wilson’s last three weeks all came in the same format; caught by teammate Brett Forsyth, who positioned himself beautifully. Wilson was able to perfectly draw the facing batsman into playing the wrong shot, essentially finishing the game on his own.

To add to his impressive wicket-taking ability, Wilson was also economical, conceding just 34 runs from five overs, in what proved to be the finest and most important individual performance of the weekend.