By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE West Gippsland Cricket Association (WGCA) arms race just continues to escalate, with reigning District division player of the year Scott Clark switching from the newly-promoted Pakenham Upper-Toomuc to Devon Meadows.
Clark, who led the Yabbies to the 2015/16 District premiership as captain-coach, scored 559 runs at an average of 37.3 and took 46 wickets at 10.6 on the way to winning the division’s highest individual honour. He was also one of the WGCA’s best contributors in February’s Country Week carnival.
Clark said the move from Yabbieland to Glover Reserve was mainly due to family reasons.
The Hampton Park resident said he wanted to cut down on both his travel time and cricketing commitments to spend more time with his partner Kylie and their kids.
Clark heads to Devon Meadows to play under newly-appointed player-coach Ash Adams and alongside great mate Matt Hutchinson.
The Yabbies now face the prospect of heading into the competition’s Premier tier (assuming the league retains its 2015/16 structure) without its two best players from the District premiership-winning team after Ben Spicer departed for Kooweerup. Nick Fairbank has also been linked with a move elsewhere.
“I rang Vic (club president Vicky Downes) and told her why I was leaving,” Clark said.
“I told the club it had absolutely nothing to do with money, it’s about family.
“I just felt like I’d put (my partner) Kylie and the kids on the backburner over the past two years – I’d been committed to trying to get that club back into Premier. I had a job to do and I was purely focussed on that, and probably didn’t focus enough on the family.
“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, but it’s one I had to make.
“The club is in a good position – Vicky and the committee have the club in a good place and I think they’re really going to move forward. I’ve made a lot of good friends up there and I’ll still be going up there to functions and to have a beer with everyone. I rang the players, individually, and explained my reasons for moving on and every single one of them was fantastic about it.”
In addition to winning last season’s District title with the Yabbies, Clark was also part of Kooweerup’s Premier division premiership side in 2014.
Devon Meadows president Mick Floyd said he was thrilled to have Clark at Glover Reserve moving forward.
“Getting a player of Scott’s talent and experience is obviously a major coup for the club,” he said.
“His performance on the field speaks for itself – he’ll be a great addition on the field and will be good fit off it. We’re very excited to welcome him to Pantherland.”
For more on Adams’ appointment as Panthers coach and plenty more news from across the WGCA, pick up a copy of this week’s Pakenham-Berwick Gazette – out first thing Wednesday.
