CAMPERDOWN teenager Fraser Lucas is about to add juggling to his list of talents.
Lucas will head to his first Melbourne Country Week with South West Cricket on Sunday in fine form after a match-winning performance with Bookaar.
Last Saturday, the pace bowler claimed match figures of 6-71 as his side scored an outright win by an innings and 91 runs over Heytesbury Rebels.
That came a week after he made his maiden division one century, knocking 105 as Bookaar posted a daunting total of 8-347.
But the 18-year-old’s cricket commitments are being balanced alongside an impending move to Melbourne, where he is set to pursue a university degree and VFL football career.
Lucas, touted as an AFL draft hope last year after playing with TAC Cup side Geelong Falcons, has signed with VFL club Werribee, where he will play under former Western Bulldogs champion Scott West.
Lucas said he was looking forward to his next few hectic weeks, including a move to live on campus at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus.
“It sounds pretty exciting but it’s a little bit nerve-racking as well,” he said.
Lucas, in his fourth season of division one cricket, said he had never represented the association at Country Week before.
But after taking 16 wickets at an average of 22.88 opening the bowling and making 236 runs at an average of 33.71 from eight matches, the opportunity arose.
“The weekend was some of the best bowling I’ve had for the year in terms of line and length and control,” Lucas said.
Bookaar captain Simon Baker had urged Lucas to think about playing Country Week after recognising his all-round talents.
Lucas said Werribee had given him the green light to play cricket next week before making the move to Melbourne. But he intends seeing out the season with Bookaar, which leapt into finals contention after the outright win on the weekend.
Lucas said he had contemplated travelling back to play alongside his brother Eddie at Hampden league club Camperdown, but a number of calls from West and Werribee’s chief executive officer had convinced him to pursue a VFL career.
Lucas, who played as a midfielder with the Geelong Falcons, said he had requested a role across half-back at Werribee.
“This year we’ll just try and work on a few things I’ve got to work on and go from there,” he said. “The expectation this year is I don’t expect to play too many senior games but develop a game I can play seniors with.
“That is something Scotty spoke about, developing your game to match our game style and play VFL footy.”
He said he was more comfortable playing across half-back, a position he filled at Camperdown, but he knew he had some work to do before breaking into the club’s best side.
Lucas will find some familiar faces at Werribee, including Terang Mortlake’s Ben Moloney, Geelong Falcons teammate Ryan Monaghan, from Colac, and South Warrnambool’s Sam Wormald.
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