Sydney Shires Cricket 2020/21: First-grade season preview
Sydney Shires Cricket is set to kick off with a tasty menu of games this weekend. Clubs have revealed where their strengths are and who they think are the main threats from other teams. READ OUR IN-DEPTH PREVIEW.
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It’s been a crazy year for everybody living in Sydney, but one of the city’s most popular local cricket competitions is ready to get back underway and provide some entertainment for sport fans.
The Sydney Shires Cricket Competition will start this weekend with six matches across the city as 13 teams battle it out for the first-grade premiership.
NewsLocal reached out to all the clubs to find out what their expectations for this summer are, and who they believe will take them to premiership glory.
Auburn
The Auburn Cricket Club finished the 2019-20 season as undefeated first-grade premiers, and they’re looking to build on that success by “maintaining the same high standard of consistent performance” to win another premiership in the club’s 70th anniversary according to clubman Mike Wood.
The first-grade side has added Alex Daniels, John Starkey, and Gagan Dhillon for the 2020/21 season.
Wood said right-arm finger spinner Mohammed Yasir Ali is a big chance to repeat his 2019/20 performance which saw him take 48 wickets, and said right-handed batsman Corey Lowe should be damaging with the bat this season.
Auburn starts its season with a big clash against Burwood at George Parry Oval On Saturday morning.
Balmain-South Sydney
Brad Tregea told us the club’s goal was to win the competition this season, but the ultimate plan is to focus on playing well every week and build on the success of last summer.
Balmain-South Sydney has had “quite a few” new players come into the squad for 2020/21, including a former first-grade captain making a big return after a couple of years away from the club.
Tahmid Islam topped the wicket-taking rankings last year, and Brad expects him to be up there again, saying other teams are “lucky they only have to face 10 overs from him each week”.
Callum Williams is expected to lead the charge as an opener in 2020/21. Williams worked his way into first-grade last summer, and is expected to be a mainstay at the top of Balmain-South Sydney’s order this year.
Balmain-South Sydney has the bye in round one.
Burwood
Burwood Cricket Club did not respond to NewsLocal’s questions about season 2020/21. Burwood will take on Auburn in the match of the round to kick of the season on Saturday.
Epping
Like the others, Epping’s big goal in 2020/21 is to win the premiership, and Graeme Baird says new players such as Danish Amhed, Himanshu Warde and Noah Olejniczak will go a long way to that goal.
Karl Stuart will lead the attack with the new ball each week, while Ben O’Connell will look to build on his maiden first-grade century last season and put in a big season with the bat.
Graeme told NewsLocal that Epping doesn’t have the “name” players that other clubs do, so is looking for a strong team effort and consistent performances from all 11 players every week.
Epping will travel to Weldon Oval to take on Warringah in round one.
Georges River
Georges River will look to build on last year’s finals appearance with another finals appearance and a grand-final berth.
Although George’s River haven’t picked up any new players of note for 2020/21, all players from the higher grades will return this summer.
Young quick Mitchell Betts took 42 wickets last summer, and the club expects him to get even better this season. With the bat, Jarred Muzurkiewicz will look to build on the 40.50 average he held in his first season of first-grade last summer.
The club told NewsLocal that they would need a strong batting performance from the top order to go all the way, and a continuation of their excellent bowling attack.
Georges River travels to Bruce Purser Reserve to take on North West Sydney in round one.
Lane Cove
Lane Cove Cricket Club is another with aspirations of a grand final berth in 2020/21, and they’ll be aiming to finish in the top three to give themselves the best possible chance.
The club expects Greg Hunt to build on a strong summer, which included a double century, with the bat, while Ravi Ravi will take the new ball after an incredible 2019/20 season which saw him average less than nine.
Lane Cove’s Damian Naughton told NewsLocal the club would need at least two batsmen from the middle order to score at least 300 runs this year if the club is to make a run at the grand final this summer to support the competition’s “number one strike bowling attack”.
Lane Cove travels to Lindfield Oval to take on Lindfield in round one.
Lindfield
The Lindfield Cricket Club didn’t want to put a target on their 2020/21 season, but said they wanted to ensure their “process and preparation is done to a high standard and we do the little things well”.
Mitchell van Homrigh, Tom Sproule, Henry Chapman, and Dan Miles were the result of strong recruitment over the winter, and will all appear in first grade regularly this season.
Greg Cook told NewsLocal van Homrigh had trained the house down over the winter, and should be in for a strong season at the top of the order. With the ball, left-arm seamer Julian Chan has come through an injury cloud and has big expectations for 2020/21.
Lindfield hosts Lane Cove in round one.
Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts
Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts will welcome back Waleed and Nasir Jalil for their push for the 2020/21 premiership after four years away from the club.
The club is traditionally strong in first-grade, and will once again aim for the big prize in 2020/21 after recently winning three competitions in a row.
Mt Prichard-Southern Districts takes on Strathfield at Greenway Park in round one.
North West Sydney
North West Sydney is looking for a more consistent season in 2020/21, and to improve on the one win they achieved last summer.
The club brought in “a lot” of new players across all grades this season, and believes the club is in as strong as a position as it has been in a while.
The club believes there is a strong amount of talent in the playing group, but isn’t getting ahead of itself this summer.
North West Sydney hosts Georges River in round one.
Pennant Hills
Pennant Hills are coming off a season where they finished on the bottom of the first-grade ladder, but the club is aiming for the top six this season.
Club president Stirling Hamman told NewsLocal the club had brought in enough new players to fill out a fifth-grade side and two sixth-grade sides.
Puru Rathore is expected to be Pennant Hills’ star with the bat in first grade, while Asim Sohail will lead the attack with the ball.
Roseville
Roseville narrowly missed the finals last season despite chalking up five wins, and they’ll be looking to break into the top six in 2020/21.
The club is aiming for a top three finish and a premiership this summer, and hope new addition Aditya Ramakrishnan will help with that goal.
When asked what would lead Roseville to a premiership this season, the club told us “player availability” was the number-one issue.
Roseville takes on Pennant Hills in round one at Roseville Chase Oval.
Strathfield
Strathfield did not respond to NewsLocal’s questions. The club finished 10th last season, and will start with a tough trip to Greenway Park to take on Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts in round one.
Warringah
Warringah may be the toughest road trip in the competition, and the club will look to take advantage of that in 2020/21.
However, that doesn’t mean the playing group is getting ahead of themselves, as they told NewsLocal that consistency was the goal this summer.
Ned Healy, Tully Moffat, and James Boyer have come back from Manly’s grade-cricket club to add depth to Warringah’s first-grade side.
Matt Priest will look to lead the attack after gaining a “few extra yards” of pace over the pre-season, while all-rounder Will Greenland is expected to shine both with the bat and his right-arm leg spinners.
Warringah starts the season with a home game against Epping.
Season predictions
We also asked the clubs to nominate one other club they expect to make the grand final in 2020/21, the player they expect to score the most runs, and the player they expect to take the most wickets.
Burwood was the club voted most likely to play in the grand final with five, while Auburn and Warringah both received two votes.
Mt Pritchard-Southern Districts also got a vote.
The highest run scorer was a landslide victory for Paul Donovan who received five votes. Greg Hunt, Nick Govers and Cosi Beadle also received votes.
The highest wicket taker was a much closer affair, with Tahmid Islam the only player to receive more than one vote.
Daniel Yates, Muhammad Ali, Joe Scarcella, Dan Lenehan, Dan Miles, and Brenton Wright also received votes.