HAT-TRICKS in cricket are hard to come by.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hat-tricks by a 13-year-old bowler playing in senior competition are much rarer.
But that is exactly what Hamish Johns did while playing for Homers in Horsham Cricket Association C Grade competition on Saturday.
Johns produced three consecutive wickets in his only over of the day to seal a win for the Pigeons against Laharum.
It was Johns’ first ever hat-trick after being on a hat-trick three times in under-14 competition last season.
Making the result even sweeter was the fact team-mate David Hopper predicted Johns would get a hat-trick in the over.
“Before the over started, David said to me ‘you can get a hat-trick this over’,” Johns said.
“On the fourth ball of the over I bowled it and the guy went to hook it but he hit it straight to Mark Hallam so I’ve gone ‘here’s the start of my hat-trick’.
“On the second ball I bowled it and my foot slipped so I was like ‘oh no, I’m not going to get the hat-trick’ but the guy top-edged it straight to Tom Iredell-Burke.
"I was really excited and everyone was cheering me on and David came up to me and said ‘you can get the last wicket Hamish’.
“On my last ball I bowled the guy leg stump.”
Johns said the team was jubilant after the final wicket and rushed over to congratulate him.
He said it was good to share the moment with his father Stuart, who is captain of the team.
His grandfather was also watching on from the boundary.
“It was good to get it with him out there and my grandpa watching from the sidelines because he was the last person in our family to get a hat-trick so he was really excited,” Johns said.
“Dad is really annoyed that he is the only one without a hat-trick now so I’ve been letting him hear about it.”
The game was also notable for having five father-son combinations between the two teams.
The Johns pair was joined by Barry and Ash Hopper and Mark and Brenton Hallam for Homers, while Jeremy and Cooper Tyler and Ash and Mackenzie Marra lined up for Laharum.