A century on the last ball of the day does not come around often, neither does passing 10,000 runs for your club – but Burrumbeet’s Wayne Martin managed to do both in one afternoon.
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Martin, batting in the club’s one-day A grade clash against Napoleons-Sebastopol, hit an unbeaten 100 in the most dramatic fashion on Saturday.
After an outstanding innings, Martin was ready to put his feet up following the brilliant effort at the top of the order as Burrumbeet clicked through the 40th and final over with a score in excess of 200.
Martin was on strike for the final ball, unawares of exactly how many runs he had compiled for the day.
He pushed the final delivery out to the man on the boundary, content with a single. But as the pair ambled down the pitch for one, it was met with cries from their teammates of “run two, run two” – it was then that Martin realised he was on the brink of a milestone.
He came back for the second run on the throw and raised the bat for a memorable ton.
Martin has made “a few” centuries before, but the last was more than a decade ago.
Adding to the occasion was the fact that he and son, Nick, were able to put on 129 runs for fourth wicket.
“It’s something you’ll look back on and think ‘yeh, that’s pretty good’,” Martin said.
“But I just play for the enjoyment, I get to play with the kids now – that’s the good part.”
While the century caught him by surprise, Martin was well aware that he was approaching 10,000 runs for the club – the first player to do so.
Saturday was his first game for the season, and after doing last year’s end-of-season stats, he knew he was on the cusp of the impressive figure.