Tathra's Adam Blacka sets new batting record
Howzat: Adam Blacka at the Tathra scoreboard after knocking 307 not-out against Mallacoota, the Far South Coast Association's first triple-ton. Picture: Facebook.
Tathra's Adam Blacka has become the first batsman to hit 300-plus in Far South Coast Association cricket.
Blacka, cracked an undefeated 307 against Mallacoota on Tathra's Lawrence Park Saturday, becoming just the third man in the country to pass a triple-ton this year.
One of the other two players comes from Cooma.
Speaking to an absolutely drained Blacka on Sunday, who had just backed up for 111 runs against Goulburn in the Burns Cup - the all-rounder never guessed he could pass 300.
However, Blacka said he was spurred on by a golden duck during Thursday's Baggy Blues T20.
"I copped that golden duck on the first ball, so I was hungry for runs and said I wanted to open the batting," Blacka said.
"I got to 90 at drinks, but I'd been dropped on 60, I'm not sure that bloke thought it would cost him 240 runs," he said with a laugh.
It wasn't any particular shot, but just clean deliveries that had the club president cracking some 30-run overs.
"They were bowling pretty full so I could really get under the ball - Mallacoota were trying to hit mid-stump so you could attack at mid-on and Tathra has a fairly short boundary so you can hit those zones," he said.
The best score in recent memory is about 238 runs scored by Andrew Dedman, but Blacka's 307 obliterates that becoming the first triple-ton in association history.
Blacka said it was probably after returning from the drinks break he realised he was on to a big score.
"I hit them for a couple of 20-plus overs got me well past the ton and I thought 'I could hit 200 here'," he said.
"I started hitting it well and had a few big overs to get to 150 and my mind was going 'maybe you can do 250'."
Hitting 200 with just over nine overs to spare, Blacka went all-out and clinched 300 in the final over, batting out the full innings.
"Their first-change bowler had me tied down for a while so I didn't think I would get anywhere near that," he said.
"I got dropped on 60 and then I top-edged one for six, but it just slipped over a guys fingers on the boundary, so there were a few hairy moments," he adds with a laugh.
He said Tathra were about five or six overs into their stint in the field before it even sank in.
"I didn't realise, I was out in the field thinking 'do I have to bowl?'," Blacka said with a laugh. "It was a good feeling after that."
The practice couldn't have come at a better time either as Blacka will represent Tuggeranong in the T20 national club championship in Adelaide from March 6.
It is a national invitational for all the state-winning sides in their respective premier T20 leagues.