Teenager's century part of match-defining partnership

Nestles opener Wil Hinkley made 129 off 140 deliveries in the Factory's win against Allansford-Panmure on Saturday. Pictures by Sean McKenna

NESTLES hopes a blistering start from its opening partnership is a sign of things to come.

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Teenager Wil Hinkley, who celebrated his maiden Warrnambool and District Cricket Association century, and veteran Geoff Williams put on a match-defining 176-run stand against Allansford-Panmure on Saturday.

Hinkley brought his ton up with a six and finished with a memorable 129 off 140 deliveries while Williams contributed 86 in the 100-run win at Wenborn Oval.

Williams is confident the Factory - which didn't require boom recruit Tim Ludeman until the 30^th over against the Gators - has the batting power to be a force in season 2022-23.

"We had two maidens the first two overs of the day and just built into it," he said.

"It's good batting with Wil - we opened the batting all last season and it's good to see him get some reward.

"He flew to 60 and then slowed down a bit. He ended up getting it with a six, so he should be pretty proud of himself the young lad."

Williams was rapt with Hinkley's ability to judge each ball on its merits.

Geoff Williams scored 86 runs for Nestles and was part of a 176-run opening stand.

"He hit his areas really well. He is pretty good with his feet to the spinners, hits nice and straight," he said.

"Last year he was just finding his feet but today you could just tell he'd been putting the work in the past six weeks at training."

Hinkley, 19, said he was elated to notch the ton.

"I worked my way into the innings and Wenborn is a small ground so once you're in you can go," he said.

"It was good getting a lot of time out in the middle for all the hard work I've put in."

The apprentice cabinetmaker, who played in Koroit's under 18.5 Hampden league football grand final side last month, said he was soaking up the knowledge Williams, Ludeman and captain Jake Hetherington imparted.

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"They try and keep it as simple as possible and it makes the game a lot easier," he said. Williams - a former captain - was pleased to start his summer on a positive note too.

"I was quite happy to watch Wil there for a bit," he laughed. "Then I had a couple of nice overs that sort of caught me back up.

"Hard wickets and playing at the (Warrnambool) high school as well - it's very short sideways and the wind was going to left-handers' cow corner one way, so it was on your pads bowling from the Cramer Street end. You definitely got rewarded if the ball was in the wrong spot."

Matt Noonan impressed on debut, taking two wickets.

Williams said Noonan - a medium pace bowler - was a tale of persistence.

"It was good to have someone who has been around the club for six years and start in the threes and work his way up," he said.

Williams' brother Cameron started his season on a winning note too, as reigning premier Russells Creek accounted for Merrivale.

Rukshan Weerasinghe made 51 for Creek while Kyle Humphreys top-scored for the Tigers with 74.

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