After scoring his highest first-class score against New South Wales, Tasmanian batsman Beau Webster is looking forward to the challenges that await his side this Sheffield Shield season.
Webster stood tall with a determined century against NSW, posting his highest first-class score (136) off 354 deliveries to reach triple figures for the fourth time in his first-class career.
As his first century of the season, Webster was pleased to have registered another century – his first since December 2016.
And while a century is always sweet, this one may have been even been more significant for Webster, with his ton coming against the difficult Dukes ball, renowned as being a weapon for bowlers due to the prodigious movement it creates.
“It was nice, it has been a while between drinks. Obviously, I got one last year quite early in the season and then the Dukes ball did me over in the back half of the season, so it was nice to get one against the Dukes ball,” the 24-year-old said.
WATCH: Webster posts his highest first-class score
New South Wales declared at 8-449 after several breaks in play due to rain, and although the weather continued to wreak havoc throughout Tasmania’s innings, Webster was disappointed the Tigers couldn’t walk away with victory.
“It was a nice wicket to bat on – they posted a big score on day one. It was frustrating to have all that rain on days two and three but it was a nice wicket to bat on.
“The captains came together to try and figure out how many overs each team wants to set up a game or a realistic chase, and they couldn’t come to an agreement which was quite disappointing with it being a tight season, especially at the top of the ladder,” he said.
Tasmania currently sit in third place on the Sheffield Shield table with key matches against South Australia and Victoria to come, and with both matches being played at Blundstone Arena with a Dukes ball, Webster is confident Tasmania will finish the year strongly in pursuit of a place in the final.
“Bellerive is a results wicket, and with a Dukes ball you usually get a result and you get a result pretty early.
“These two games are going to be massive for us, especially as we try to get into our first final in a few years.
“We aren’t getting too far ahead of ourselves, and we still have two games against two very good red ball teams, they have probably been the standout for the past two years in South Australia and Victoria,” Webster said.
Tasmania’s will take on South Australia at Blundstone Arena from this Monday, March 5th.