Will Ashton and Ollie Hollands, sons of top sportsmen, make their mark

Fifteen-year-old Will Ashton has opened the batting in his first two matches, while all-rounder Ollie Hollands debuted against East Albury last week.

Ben Hollands played eight games with AFL club Richmond in 1999, while Wayne Ashton was a swashbuckling left-hand opening batsman and long-time Wodonga Cricket Club coach.

Ashton senior turns 50 in July, but is back playing C grade division two for the Bulldogs.

He's still opening the batting, but says that's where the similarity with Will ends.

"I've tried to teach him all the good things that I didn't do," he laughed.

Ashton's debut in the Albury Border Cricket Association in October, 1995, may never be surpassed.

Tallangatta was new to the competition as well and it will never forget the day when Ashton hammered an unbeaten 270 not out, including 34 boundaries and three sixes.

Will was quizzed on dad's aggressive batting.

"Yeah, I think he was, from what I've been told," he offered.

Dad's theory of 'do as I say, not as I do' has certainly worked because the Year 10 student has a wonderfully correct technique.

"We've just tried to keep it really basic, play straight, watch the ball and keep the good ball out and score off the bad ones," Wayne explained.

"My idea is if you can see off the new ball from the best bowlers, you can bat against anything after that."

The youngster has posted scores of 26 against Wodonga Raiders and 28 against East Albury, which is an extremely positive start from a teen at the top of the innings.

"It's been really good, I've loved it, playing at the highest level you can around here," he said.

The father-son combination have shared special moments on the field, playing in two lower grade premierships for Rovers United Bruck in Wangaratta.

COVID-19 wiped out junior representative cricket in Victoria, so Will and good mate Luke Grady have now joined the NSW Pathways program.

"That program is brilliant, Sam O'Connor and the coaches are just so good with the boys, Will loves it," Wayne said.

And Ben Hollands says exactly the same of Wodonga.

"One of the things that I really like at Wodonga is there's a lot of mature heads there and they're great with the kids, Bob Jackson, Leo McGhee, Byron Hales, all those sorts of guys, they are just brilliant," he enthused.

"My advice, typically, is listen to them (laughs loudly)."

And Ollie has taken that on board.

"It was awesome, playing with some big names like Bob Jackson, BJ Garvey and Tom Johnson, it was really fun," the 17-year-old suggested.

Hollands will play his last game for the season on Saturday before heading back to boarding school at Geelong Grammar

"Some of the best advice dad's given me is to really enjoy the moment and take every opportunity that you can, going to boarding school last year gave me the chance to have so many opportunities," he said.

And while dad didn't play cricket past his mid-teens as the AFL came calling, he's still had plenty of coaching experience after guiding Wodonga in the Ovens and Murray Football League for four years.

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"Play with a free mind, Ollie works hard and it should put him in a headspace where he knows he's done the work and he can then relax a little bit more and just go out and enjoy what he's doing," he outlined.

Both Ashton and Hollands face a tough test at home against Corowa on Saturday, with speedster Jarryd Hatton boasting the best average (10.6) of any leading bowler.