Cricket: Tom Fitzgerald discusses Saturday's drought-breaking century

The wicket is ideal, overhead conditions are benign, and the bowlers can't quite find that perfect delivery to cause the batter trouble.

Such was the case on Saturday, but Tom Fitzgerald was only thinking about one thing when he went in to bat for Tamworth City United.

"I was pretty hungry," Fitzgerald said.

"Jack [McVey] and I went to get some lunch and then got back and the game had already started, so it was a bit rushed. I didn't have time to think about it."

Having been set a target of 221 by the North Tamworth Redbacks, City United were in early trouble at 2-22 on what was a very flat and batter-friendly track under lights at No. 1 Oval.

Alongside club stalwart and former captain, Brad Smith (80*), Fitzgerald settled into his innings and produced a thunderous knock of 119 not out.

Compiled from just 78 balls (which featured 13 fours and seven sixes), the 25-year-old's hitting left captain Tait Jordan and his teammates "sitting there in awe".

But, initially at least, Fitzgerald was focused solely on "batting properly".

"If it was a good ball, I just left it outside the off stump until I got my eye in," he said.

"I found out pretty quickly that it was a good pitch, and I started to hit a couple of wide ones along the ground. Everything kept going my way, and I got to hit a couple of short balls to hit and I kept going with it."

Fitzgerald was filthy being run out for 98 in last season's two-day grand final. In his first game of cricket since that April day, he hit a flurry of boundaries to reach the milestone - which ensured he didn't have time to succumb to the 'nervous 90s'.

When his teammates began cheering, however, Fitzgerald couldn't fathom that he had already reached three figures.

"To be honest, I didn't believe them when they started clapping for my hundred," he said.

"It must have come pretty fast, because I hit a lot of boundaries in quick succession and all of a sudden, I was there."

It was the first century in Tamworth first grade cricket since Michael Rixon's 177 in January 2021.

Rixon very nearly took that record for himself on Saturday, until cramps curtailed his knock at 84. But in cooler conditions under lights, Fitzgerald made it his own.

Fitzgerald was not aware that he now owned a small slice of local cricket history until the Leader told him. It was, he said, "not a bad stat" and he was "just happy to get it" - particularly since his last hundred in Australia took place during the 2019/20 season.

"It was good to finally celebrate," Fitzgerald said.

"It's my first one for a couple of years now, so it's good to finally get one."

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