Former Goulburn District Junior Cricket Association fast bowler, Ollie Anable, played a critical role for the ACT Aces in their run to the NSW Regional Bash grand final last month.
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With three wickets from four games at 22.3 and an economy rate of 6.7 runs per over, Ollie was a vital cog in the ACT's bowling lineup.
"He had good round games leading up to [the final], he said he bowled pretty well," Ollie's father, Garry Anable, said.
"[In T20s], if you can keep them down to six runs an over's a good achievement for a young fella. During that time he opened up the bowling each game, so that was good to see."
The NSW Regional Bash pits the best cricketers from the ACT and regional NSW against one another, split into four pools.
By the end of the pool stages, the top teams from each play in the semi-finals.
The Aces hammered the Central Coast Wranglers by nine wickets in their semi, in which Anable took 1-9 from two overs.
The grand final, against Lake Mac Attack on January 26, was a different story. Ollie bowled the first over of the match, which went for ten runs, and did not bowl again.
After their opponents compiled a score of 9-127 at the SCG, the Aces batted valiantly but fell seven runs short of the total.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Garry said there were plenty of positives for Ollie to take from the campaign.
"Setting the tone for the game for the rest of the bowlers to keep it tight in those early overs, he did a good job," he said.
"I think every game he's playing he's getting more comfortable, and he's obviously getting stronger as he's getting older as well. He's just turned 20 and he's starting to grow into his body a bit more, which makes his bowling better."
Ollie's progression in both physical and mental strength, his father said, is in no small part due to his time with the Tuggeranong Valley cricket club in Canberra.
"[Ollie is] playing with Tuggeranong over there [in Canberra] and the team's coming third so he's getting plenty of opportunity opening the bowling with them," Garry said.
"He's probably the spearhead of their attack over there, so hopefully they can do well in the finals and make the grand final.
"I think they've mentored Ollie fairly well so I have to give them a bit of a tick in terms of having good mentors at the club."
Every young fast bowler has battled injury at some point in their career, but Garry said he has been impressed with his son's resilience in 2019/20.
"He's had a good season in respect to his body, hopefully those times [of consistent injuries] are behind him," he said. "But fast bowling is hard on the body, he's got to do as much work off the field as on it.
"A big part of the system is strength and conditioning for young quicks."
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