James Aish chips in for Nat Fyfe’s local club after Fremantle Dockers champion withdraws from cricket clash

Fremantle stars continue to descend on Lake Grace Cricket Club, though a late withdrawal from their biggest name left them short for this weekend’s clash against rivals Cuballing. Dockers champion Nat Fyfe was set to don the whites for his hometown, having been named in the first XI squad by the club, but was a no-show on Saturday morning, leaving his side to play with 10 men. However, former teammate James Aish still stepped out to bat, coming in at No.4, though he couldn’t stem the tide of a rampant Tigers attack. The former Docker made just three before being bowled by Cuballing’s Damon Watt, after the former midfielder went for an ill-advised swipe across the line and was undone by a yorker. It comes after All-Australian half-back Jordan Clark cracked a rapid half-century and kept wicket for the club earlier this month, having represented Australia at junior level. Aish has spent the last few days with his friend and former teammate, helping the Fyfe family during harvest. He did chip in with the ball, taking the only Cuballing wicket to fall with a caught and bowled off his medium pace to finish with 1-22 off four overs as the Tigers cruised to a nine-wicket win to end Lake Grace’s unbeaten start to the season. While neither has quite the resume Clark does when it comes to cricket, Aish said they had long planned to have a hit together. “I’ve been saying for years I’d love to get an opportunity to play, but it’s pretty hard with football and training, so now that it’s come up there’s no excuses,” Aish said. “We did a little net session last night and the body is a bit sore not having used those sorts of muscles in a while. “I haven’t held a bat for about 15 or 16 years after I stopped when I was young, but it’s a great game.” The 30-year-old said after a great few days on the farm, getting out on the field with a good group of guys was the perfect stop off before heading home to Perth.