The Cats bowler has excelled each and every time he’s been called upon to don the Big V as a state representative at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships.
Having spoken to The News prior to boarding his flight to Brisbane for a crack at three consecutive national titles, Ford made it clear he was holding himself to a high standard.
It’s reasonable to say he would have matched — likely surpassed — those expectations.
Now, granted, he and his Victorian allies hardly got off to the best start at Marchant Park for the week-long carnival.
Victoria’s first game against NSW was called off before a ball was bowled, before being dismissed for 57 and routed by South Australia the following day.
In the rare position of adversity heading into the meat and bones of the T20 carnival, Ford would continue to deliver with aplomb on the bowling front as his teammates exploded on offence in back-to-back routs over Western Australia and Tasmania.
Two more wickets came in the group stage finale, continuing to deliver in each contest.
He saved his most potent performances for the knockouts, contributing bags of three poles apiece in the semi-final over Tasmania and in earning revenge against South Australia in the decider.
In the process, Ford completed a hat-trick all the more special — three consecutive championships in the intellectual disability tournament, while Victoria notched its fifth national title in a row.
“It was a good way to go out with one of our longest-serving members in the team retiring with the five premierships,” Ford said.
“Things got off to a rocky start because we got rolled (in the first SA game), but we bounced back. Credit to the whole squad because we stuck together.
“The rain put a bit of a spanner in the works as it bucketed down right after the opening ceremony, but we bonded together and stuck by each other.
“I had the honour of meeting Steve Waugh up there in Brisbane; it was just a very special week.”
A competition-best tally of 13 wickets won’t exactly harm his view of life at the moment, either.
“I got a few wickets, but the team was awesome with how we supported and executed our game plan that we would talk about the night before,” Ford said.
“I didn’t get the bowling average title because the finals games aren’t counted, which was a bit disheartening, but I was glad just to do my role for the team that the leadership group and coaches asked of me.
“To have South Australia 0-25 after 10 overs in the final was awesome. We hadn’t picked up the wickets, but they were frustrated and some loose shots came out.
“Now, I’ll get to training Tuesday and give that my best, hopefully guiding Mooroopna to finals. I’ve moved up to playing a few games in C-grade, which I’m quite happy with.
“I’ll be back next year to hopefully push on towards Australian aspirations and I’ll keep striving towards that dream.”
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