Pushing for higher honours

In the Age, Lyall Johnson spends some time with Victoria's first-class team and discovers the personal battles that players one step below international level must deal with.

As a player, you are only an injury or a form slump from being out of a job. Jewell is often targeted by quick bowlers because Shipperd has banned him from hooking or pulling after a run of dismissals a couple of seasons back. Opposing captains crowd him with close fieldsmen, and bowlers aim at his ribcage. Jewell, the son of former Richmond player and coach Tony Jewell, uses his father's words to explain where he is coming from. "Dad always talks about that, coming from his footy background, just how physically, but also mentally, strong cricketers have to be," he says. "As a batsman you've got 11 on two out there, sometimes 11 on one and a bloke bowling a rock and he's trying deliberately to do damage to you. It's a confronting game."