NOWRA'S Adam Ison has made a winning start to his NSW Premier Cricket first grade by helping his Campbelltown-Camden defeat UNSW at the weekend.
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To make the achievement even more incredible, the Nowra High School alumnus has fought back from a well documented battle with chronic fatigue, which saw him bed-ridden for days at a time.
"It was a relief to finally get there [to debut] and I'm very proud of myself considering what I went through to get back onto the field," Ison said.
"It took longer than I would of liked when I first started in Sydney to get to play first grade but that's the way it panned out with my chronic fatigue.
"I'm glad I finally made it and will now just be looking to prove myself as a first grade cricketer."
On day one of their round two fixture at David Phillips South Oval, the Ghosts restricted the Bumble Bees to just 119 from their 51 overs, with Ulladulla's Matthew Gilkes contributing seven.
In reply, Ison opened the batting, alongside Aaron Yabsley, with the Nowra Cricket Club junior scoring a run a ball 17.
Then behind knocks from Jaydyn Simmons (35 not out), Yabsley (35) and North Nowra-Cambewarra product Philip Wells (27), the Ghosts reached the target (3/120) in the 25th over.
"It was a great experience [to debut] and one that I'll never forget," Ison said.
"It's definitely a level up but I felt like I went well and didn't feel out of place.
"I just went out and played my natural game, which is to attack the ball and felt like I hit the ball strongly.
"I certainly took a lot out of the experience that will help me improve as a cricketer - it's up to me to keep developing each and every game now."
The following day, Ison and his Ghosts edged Fairfield-Liverpool (5/126 to 74) in the Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 Cup - with the Shoalhaven junior scoring 20 from 22 balls.
Ison and Wells' Ghosts will next face Sutherland at Raby Oval One, while Gilkes' UNSW travel to Pratten Park to battle Western Suburbs.