As a tailender, batting isn’t your strong point but all of a sudden ending the ladder leader’s undefeated streak is in your hands.

It’s a pressure situation, right?

Wrong, says West Warrnambool’s Nigel Roll.

“I was actually feeling pretty relaxed out there,” he recalled of the round-five encounter.

“I knew we had Simon Johnson to come in and (before that myself and Andrew) Hawken treated it like we were batting in any other game.”

Roll’s calmness in a tense situation three months ago saw him steer the Panthers over the line with an unbeaten 19.

It dealt Allansford its first loss of the season.

West has since recorded four victories to see it sitting third on the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association (WDCA) ladder.

After resting and only playing a handful of games last season, Roll fully committed to the Panthers this summer.

“It’s probably just because the club got a bit more professional by appointing Andrew (Robb) as coach and getting a couple of good recruits who I’m mates with,” he said.

“We’ve got a pretty strong line-up and a bit more depth compared to others years.

“There’s generally just a good club atmosphere.”

The 22-year-old said West’s batting needed to pick-up in the remaining rounds. “We definitely need to improve on our partnerships because we always seem to lose a couple of quick wickets in succession,” he said.

“Our bowling and fielding has been pretty good though.”

Roll — a medium pacer who swings the ball— has collected 15 wickets in 2009-10. “I’m taking a lot more wickets than usual,” he said.

“I think I’m just working a bit harder at training and my fitness is a bit better this season.”

West captain-coach Andrew Robb said the Panthers were keen to climb one more rung of the WDCA ladder.

“We’re happy enough sitting third but we’ve still got to finish the season off,” he said.

“We would like to get to second.

“It’s probably not going to change who we play in the semi-final but obviously if there’s a bit of rain, we’ll have a bit of an advantage,” Robb said. The skipper believed the serious flag contenders would become evident in the remaining three rounds.

“We’ve had four one-dayers in a row,” he said.

“I think the two-day games will certainly sort out the teams vying for a finals berth.

“We just want to be batting out our 80 overs,” Robb said.

In other matches today, Dennington is aiming for a season double against ladder leader Allansford while Merrivale is playing to stay in the top four against Brierly Christ Church. Nestles will start favourite against Russells Creek at Reid Oval.