Wizardry of Os producing magic

At just 18, the right-handed batter has already established himself as one of Cricket Shepparton’s most promising run-makers, a young talent whose blade has rarely stayed silent throughout his story.

And like all good tales, Lambourn’s started in the backyard.

His cricketing instincts were sharpened in the realm of tennis ball Test matches, where battles with his brother usually ended the same way — Lambourn taking the wickets, his brother trudging off, game over.

He’d take that same energy down to the local oval, playing for fun, knocking balls around, unaware that someone was watching.

There, a backyard warrior became a real cricketer.

“It started off in the backyard with my brother actually,” Lambourn said.

“He’d only ever come out and play with me if he could bat first and when I got him out, he’d walk inside and say ‘we’re not playing any more’.

“One day, we’re down at the oval and Vince (Gagliardi), who coached us all through juniors, said they were short that week and asked if I’d touched a cricket bat before.

“I said I’d played a little bit of backyard cricket and he said ‘you’re in’.”

Fast forward eight years and now Lambourn is not just a name on Old Students’ scorecard, but a pillar of a new generation — hungry, ambitious, built for the long game.

He has 282 runs at an average of 25.6 to go along with three wickets, making him the top scoring teenager in Cricket Shepparton’s Haisman Shield this season.

Close behind is fellow bright spark Sam O’Brien, while others like Noah Muir and Ben O’Brien fill out Old Students’ young brigade.

“The group we have, we’ve come up through juniors all together as well, so to be a part of that, it’s been fantastic,” Lambourn said.

“Also the leaders in our team, Felix (Odell), Callan McCabe, Luke McPhillamy, I think they’ve also really stepped up this year and been good leaders for us and shown us the way.

“A few of us young boys have jumped on board and are really starting to find our footing.”

So how, as a teen talent, does Lambourn set himself apart in a well-established senior competition such as the Haisman Shield?

It’s simple — temperament.

Lambourn isn’t just about clean drives and well-timed pulls; he reads the field and picks his spots like a safe cracker working under pressure.

And more often than not, he leaves with the loot.

“My strength is probably my mindset; looking to where I can score, that’s a positive I see where some struggle,” he said.

“A big thing for me is focusing on each delivery; not getting caught up in what’s going on around you, what happened the ball before or what’s going to happen — just each ball by itself.

“Over the last two years where I’ve played all A-grade cricket, I’ve started to be able to get starts.

“Last year I was getting to 20s and 30s most weeks and, this year, I’m slowly getting to 40s and 50s.”

Lambourn is becoming part of the furniture when talking senior cricket.

But it isn’t the only sport where he’s turning heads.

Last year, he got a sniff of what playing with the big boys is all about on the footy field, handed his senior debut for Shepparton against Benalla in round seven of the Goulburn Valley League season.

Teammates greeted Lambourn with cardboard cutouts of himself, making for an “awesome experience” from a club he is “super grateful for”.

The budding utility paid back his Bears by building a respectable stat line, averaging 12.7 disposals at 78 per cent efficiency, 5.3 marks and 1.5 rebound 50s, over the next 13 games.

He also donned the GVL’s purple and gold in an under-18 interleague clash.

But his biggest match? Not many hold a candle to a grand final.

“To play in a grand final, that is something you kind of dream about,” he said.

“I remember the early days when ‘Chops’ used to work at AFL Goulburn Murray, he’d have to go to all the finals and I’d be right there alongside him.

“You’d get to the last one at Deakin Reserve and it was a special day, so to think I’d be out there playing in one in my first year of senior footy, it was pretty surreal.”

Lambourn was raised on a steady diet of sport and straight talk.

And no-one dished it out better than his old man, Mark “Chops” Lambourn.

“He’s been wonders — to have someone that you can go home from footy training, games, and talk to has been huge on the mental side for me,” he said.

“That’s something we focus on through our sport, is how we can improve the mental side of it because a lot of it is upstairs. He’s been really, really positive for me.”

Lambourn, aided by his father’s counsel and with his nose pressed firmly to the grindstone, is eyeing off a banner 2025.

Cricket, footy; no matter the code, this student is shooting to the top of the class.

“(I want to) finish off the cricket season strong and keep building on what we’ve created and the momentum and direction that the club’s going,” Lambourn said.

“It’ll be important to finish off that way and leave a good taste heading into the 2025-26 season.

“And then heading into footy, I’m super keen, super excited for it.

“When it comes to that time again later in the year, hopefully we can be there or thereabouts and hopefully pushing for top spot this year.”