Western Australia's Adam Voges says he and good friend Shaun Marsh kept each other focussed during the early stages of their massive 229-run stand against Queensland in the Ryobi Cup match at the Gabba on Saturday.
The Warriors set an imposing score of 4-308 after Marsh (155 not out) and Voges (112) each recorded their highest scores in domestic one-day cricket.
The target proved too much for the Bulls, who were dismissed for 198. The 110-run win for the Warriors was enough to earn them a bonus point.
Western Australia struggled early in their innings, losing the wickets of Luke Davis and Sam Whiteman before Voges and Marsh set about slowly rebuilding.
"It swung around a fair bit early, and to lose two wickets first up we just felt that if we could build a bit of a platform again and the longer that we stayed out there the easier it was going to get," Voges said.
"Shaun and I, we had to pull each other into line a couple of times there, we drifted a bit, but fortunately we got through that tough period and then we were able to cash in towards the back end, and Shaun, to bat the whole innings was outstanding."
Recent impressive results for Western Australia, and the good form of Marsh and Voges, had a lot to do with the appointment of Justin Langer as Warriors coach, according to Voges.
"It's been a couple of good days for the boys, to back up what we did against New South Wales in Sydney, to come here and continue that good performance was really pleasing," he said.
"Things are going well at the moment.
"I think ever since Justin has come in to the side and the setup, he's just changed a few little things with my technique and he's tinkered a little bit with Shaun as well, and that's obviously starting to bear some fruit.
"I took a lot of confidence out of the Big Bash, and scoring some good runs there and having some good partnerships with Shaun so hopefully that bodes well for a strong back end of the year."
Voges said Marsh had done exceptionally well to get his career back on track after some well-publicised personal struggles.
"I'm really, really happy for Shaun," he said.
"We're good mates off the field, so I'm really wrapped for him.
"From where he was probably two months ago to where he is now, it's an amazing turnaround.
"He's worked bloody hard to get here."
First Posted 03 February, 2013 11:29AM AEST
