Cricket: Towering ambition for State spot still burning

Quitting is not in former Bunbury batsman Luke Towers’ vocabulary.

When the talented opener was told his services were no long required by theWAWarriors hierarchy at the end of the 2010-11 season he could have easily given up.

But Towers has come back bigger and better than ever this season, scoring more than 1000 runs for WACA outfit Melville.

‘‘After getting dropped I wanted to try and prove a point, prove that I was good enough and prove a few people wrong,’’ he said.

‘‘I’m probably performing as well as I ever have and I’m really enjoying my cricket at the moment.’’

Towers was a big reason behind Melville’s surge up the ladder this season, scoring 1068 runs at 41.1 including three centuries and a valuable 92 in his side’s one-day final triumph over Scarborough last month.

Despite his stellar season and a number of injuries to WA batsmen, Towers’ form has been ignored by State selectors with the last of his 10 first-class appearances coming more than a year ago.

The 23-year-old says he still hopes to play at State level but remains modest about his chances.

‘‘I sat down at the end of last year after receiving the bad news and set my goals for the 2011-12 and they were all about getting back and playing State cricket,’’ he said.

‘‘That’s still very much the ambition, but I’m really comfortable with where I’m at right now and if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.’’

Towers has fond memories of his time in Bunbury, where he got his first taste of junior cricket with Marist Cricket Club.

‘‘I really enjoyed my junior years at Marist, that was when I first fell in love with the game,’’ he said.

‘‘Some of the best coaches I ever had were Rob Miguel and Brett Whittaker and I learned a lot off them.’’