By Nick Creely and Tyler Lewis
VICTORIAN PREMIER CRICKET
SEASON PREVIEW – 2020/21
CASEY-SOUTH MELBOURNE:
Last season: 15th
Last First XI premiership: 1967/68
Notable Ins: Ruwantha Kellepotha (Berwick), Luke Shelton (Mosman), Jordan Gilmore (Ex-Students)
Outs: Blair Clymo (Morwell), Tillakaratne Dilshan (Endeavour Hills), Jordan Wyatt
Off-season talking point: Boom youngster Ashley Chandrasinghe has commanded a lot of attention from keen observers in the last 12 months, and the excitement surrounding the opening batter is high. Chandrasinghe went to the Top End in the off-season and racked up more runs. If the rumours are true, he’s well in the sights of several states, including Victoria.
What the Gazette says: The Swans will be expecting another season of growth and stability, and hopefully a return to finals as Will Carr takes over for his first year as head coach.
Michael Wallace is once again locked in as skipper, with the reliable left-hander hoping his side can stay fit and firing and find some consistency, something that’s eluded them in previous seasons.
Getting plenty out of the trio of quicks in spearhead Nathan Lambden, Jackson Fry and Cal Dodson will be vital, while expect the Swans to be spin heavy with an array of spinners such as Lachie Sperling, Ash Adihetty, Luke Shelton, Harrish Kannan, Ruwantha Kellepotha and Isaiah Jassal providing boundless options.
The Swans’ batting looks assured on paper – Chandrasinghe is the backbone of the top order, Lachie Sperling has all the attributes to be a weapon up top, Wallace is reliable, steady and technical sound, while Devin Pollock, recruit Jordan Gilmore, Kannan and Chris Benedek provide plenty.
Expect the Swans to take a few scalps, particularly at home where they’re tough to beat on their day, and if they can tidy up their record away and start finding consistency on a week to week basis, a return to finals cricket is within grasp.
What the club says: Swans coach Will Carr
“We’ve recruited a couple of handy players who we expect to feature in round 1 – there’ll be a few who miss out.
“Adding Jordy Gilmore, we could have three new faces, so 14 doesn’t go into 11, so there will be a few unlucky guys, but that’s what we want.
“We wanted more depth and experience to allow some of our developing players to develop properly.”
Potential headline: ‘Giant-killing Swans continue to surprise’. It’s still a bit unclear just where the Swans sit in the pecking order this season, it will take at least a month of cricket to get a real gauge, but expect Michael Wallace’s side to be one that gives some of the competition’s highly-fancied sides a real shake on their day.
Stat/Milestone to look out for: Masterful gloveman Devin Pollock has been beyond stable behind the poles for each of his 104 First XI games, this season he looks to join the 200 club for dismissals. So far he has claimed 177 victims (152 catches/25 stumpings), so 23 isn’t many for a keeper that creates chances. He could get it by Christmas.
Round 1 opponent: Melbourne University at home.
Team prediction: 12th – The Swans will be hoping for improvement, but the group looks like being at least one more season from playing finals, but expect them to charge hard and be amongst that logjam for a spot in the bottom half of the eight.
Individual prediction: If Ashley Chandrasinghe isn’t contracted by Victoria at the end of the season, then he will be by another state.
DANDENONG PANTHERS:
Last season: Runners-up
Last First XI premiership: 2017/18
Notable Ins: Sam Newell (Kingston Hawthorn), Matt Wilson (Carlton), Aryaman Bhardwaj (Northcote).
Outs: James Nanopoulos (Frankston Peninsula), Jacques Augustin (Frankston Peninsula), Lincoln Edwards (Elsternwick), Comrey Edgeworth (Mentone), Jack Fowler (Dromana), Pete Cassidy (Brighton), Adam McMaster (Kooweerup), Suraj Randiv (Edinburgh), Ed Newman (St Kilda).
Off-season talking point: Early in the off season the departures of a large chunk of players was well-documented. It was a turn over rarely seen from the club out of Shepley Oval. However, the continuous talking point through winter was ‘will he or won’t he’. Was the club’s pantheon Tom Donnell going to strap on the pads for one last season? After much deliberation, Donnell will go on, a great boost for the Panthers after the aforementioned partings.
What the Gazette says: With a fresh side looming to take the field in round one, what to expect from Dandenong this year is currently unclear. With such a quality of players departing – especially on the bowling front – it is hard to see the Panthers achieve the same results as it did last summer.
Yet, as such a proud club, it is also hard to see it plummet out to the bottom. With a sense of unpredictability – which is so rare when in association with Dandenong – the expectation of the side will be evident after round five.
With Richmond, Camberwell, Footscray, Frankston and then Casey-South Melbourne to kick off the season, the Panthers will reveal where it sits in the pecking order.
In a white-ball season and a now less experienced side, a great start will be crucial if Dandenong are to make another tilt at some finals action.
What the club says: Dandenong captain Brett Forsyth
“Hopefully we can carry on from our two games in the lead up (to the season), we had an intra-club and then a pretty tight (and) contested game against Casey on the weekend.
“Josh Slater batted really well, I think we were 2/20 and played a really good hand of about 65 before he was unfortunately run out.
“We have had a good bowling unit for a number of years and have taken advantage of that for a few seasons.
“We feel like our batters have had a fair bit of time at the crease which has been good, with the ball Brayden Tauber bowled really well, I think he got Ash Chandrasinghe out and Ash is obviously one of the better batters in the comp so that was really promising to see.
“We’re confident we will pull out a good group (this season) and we will post some competitive scores.”
Potential headline: “Milestones for club legends”. Dandenong stalwarts Tom Donnell and Brett Forsyth will continue to knock off records for the rest of their career.
Stat/milestone to look out for: Brett Forsyth (8496 – 22nd all-time) and Tom Donnell (8615 – 20th all-time) should both reach 9000 First XI runs this season, but an interesting stat to look out for is that as Forsyth etches closer to Tom in total runs, he also gets closer to becoming Dandenong’s all-time run scorer. Perhaps they are batting together when Forsyth levels with Donnell, and they exchange the record multiple times in an innings.
Round 1 opponent: Richmond – away.
Team prediction: 9th – with the balance of the side, expect some big scores in both innings.
Individual prediction: Josh Slater: 500 runs. 2021/22 will be the year the right-hander announces himself through a weight of runs.
FRANKSTON PENINSULA HEAT:
Last season: 17th
Last First XI premiership: Nil.
Notable Ins: James Nanopoulos (Dandenong), Jacques Augustin (Dandenong), Akshay Kodoth (Camberwell), Patrick Nagel (Rosebud, MPCA), Kiefer Peries (Clyde, WGCA).
Outs: Mackenzie Gardner (Seaford, MPCA), Harrison Barnes (Melbourne Uni), Chris Dew (Red Hill, MPCA).
Off-season talking point: Hard to go by arguably the most damaging player in the competition changing threads after nearly two decades at Shepley Oval. After a number of attempts, the Heat finally got their man, signing James Nanopoulos in the ‘silly season’.
With 367 First XI wickets, the signing of “Nano” is one of the bigger off-season talking points across the entire competition.
What the Gazette says: Frankston come into the season with a fresh side and with the injection of one of the competitions best players, the expectation has risen.
In recent years the Frankston Peninsula Cricket Club has floated through with a low bar, but it’s now time for this side to really make a climb up the Victorian Premier Cricket ladder.
Symons’ and Nanopoulos’ ability with both bat and ball will be an invaluable asset for the club and it allows them to play either a batter or bowler stronger.
Look out for the men from the South; it could be a year where they take a few scalps.
What the club says: New skipper James Nanopoulos
“It is always good to have a bit of hype, but it’s more about getting some confidence in the young kids against one of the benchmark teams.
“It is a good test to see where we are without doing much work (in the lead up), hopefully we can build on the feeling around the group.
“There is a lot of excitement around at the moment with a lot of new faces and by all reports the standards are a lot early.
“Hopefully we can set the standard early and build some momentum from there.”
Potential headline: “Give him a crack”. In recent years the Twitter-sphere seems to have its favourite players that are simply dominating Premier Cricket and are backed by an enormous social media following to get a chance at a higher level. This season that player could well and truly be young all-rounder, Brodie Symons.
Stat/milestone to look out for: It’ll be an eerie feeling for any Victorian Premier Cricket fans seeing James Nanopoulos play his 250th match in Round 14 and potentially his 400th wicket, but they’re likely to happen in his opening year for his new Frankston side.
Round 1 opponent: Melbourne at home.
Team prediction: 6th– the Heat are no longer short on talent or depth, a big year awaits the beachside club.
Individual prediction: Brodie Symons will be a contracted state cricketer after this season.
GAZETTE PREDICTIONS:
NICK:
PREMIER: Prahran
RYDER MEDAL: Evan Gulbis (Carlton)
TYLER:
PREMIER: St Kilda
RYDER MEDAL: Blake Thomson (Melbourne)
