Williams brothers united in cricket battle for Hawks

For Eaglehawk’s Williams brothers, the anticipation this week has been three-fold.

When Sam, 21, Josh, 19, and Ben, 15, take to the field for the Hawks in Saturday’s clash against Strathdale Maristians at Canterbury Park, it will be the first time the siblings have played in the same A-grade team.

Josh, who alongside older brother Sam, played ‘roughly a 50-50 mix’ of A and B-grade games in 2017-18, said the opportunity for all three siblings to represent the club at the top level had come about through a combination of hard work during pre-season and some player losses and unavailability.

“We’ll certainly take the opportunity – we’ve all trained hard and intend to make the most of it,” he said.

It won’t be the first time the talented trio has played in the same side.

Josh estimates the brothers, who are the sons of club legend, former A-grade premiership captain and team of the century member Neil Williams, have played at least four matches together in the B-grade ranks.

“We all played A and B grade last year, but when one of us wasn’t up in A-grade we were all together in B-grade,” he said.

While Eaglehawk has been well served by having the brothers on the park at the same time, each of the trio admitted to a competitiveness among themselves, stretching back to their earliest cricketing days in the backyard of their family home.

“It’s always been competitive … arguments and a battle getting each other out,” Josh said.

“Even dad liked to get out the back and show us up.

“But the only way we could get him out was six and out over the back fence.”

Father Neil’s influence continues to be felt at the club as the Hawks’ batting coach for the past four seasons.

Each brother rated their dad as having the biggest effect on their individual careers.

“He’s always had a key to the nets, so we’ve always been keen from a young age to go over and have a hit,” Josh said.

“He’s always working on our technique.”

After narrowly missing the finals last season, hopes are high the Hawks can claw their way back into the four.

But they will have to do it without their star batsman Jeremy Brown, who has called stumps on his stellar career.

“We have a couple of other departures that will affect the depth a little bit, but we have a lot of young blokes who can hopefully come in and step up,” Sam said.

Youngest brother Ben, who got a taste of A-grade late last season, is planning to make the most of his unique opportunity and have a crack at cementing down a spot in A-grade.

“It’s great to get the opportunity – the club have been good with all the feedback they have been giving me,” he said.

“Even a couple of years when they gave me the chance to play B-grade, it was an awesome experience.

“Hopefully I can play my role tomorrow and contribute to the team and a win.”

Sam hopes the clash against the Suns is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the brothers playing together in A-grade.

One thing all three can count on is the support of family.

Their grandfather Eddie Williams – also a club life member – without fail attends every Eaglehawk A-grade match and will again be on the sidelines on Saturday when the 2018-19 season swings into action.