New head coach Mick Van De Heuvel said it was important to seek external advice and a different perspective to help his troops get better – and ultimately building such relationships would benefit the standard of the Ballarat Cricket Association as a whole.

The Pointies have made sure their rivals know they mean business this season, sitting third in club championship rankings and holding top four spots in the club firsts and seconds.

“We’ve worked hard on improving a number of things but have concentrated on skill and discipline in the three aspects of the game: fielding, bowling and batting,” Van De Heuvel said. “We’ve tried a lot of different things and I’ve spoken to a lot of different people.

“...We tell our players to play hard but play it fair. Do the right things.”

Van De Heuvel, a long-time Pointie and club legend, took on the coaching role this summer, stepping up from intense coaching work with the club’s senior bowlers.

He said the support of all captains had been invaluable in ensuring players understand what they need to do to take their game to the next level. This includes monitoring the workload of young Pointies, who are often juggling senior, junior, representative and school cricket programs all summer.

Results are starting to show from the top-down.

Point’s firsts are on the verge of finals as a solid contender, ready to shake the “so-close” tag that has plagued the past couple of seasons.

They sport a well-blended mix of experience – with Steve O’Loughlin, Damian Klein and returned spinner Pete Appleton – with exciting talent in a well-rounded line-up.

Van De Heuvel said the firsts had definitely tried some new things this summer and with captain Josh White finding strong form with the bat and its bowlers a bit sharper, Van De Heuvel said his team could mix it against the best.

“We had some hiccups against Mt Clear in a one-day game. We believe we’re better than that, then Wendouree beat us by one run,” Van De Heuvel said. “We believe we’re very competitive and a chance against these clubs – you’ve got to beat them in the end if you want to play finals.”