Tiger time: Netherlands captain and Ryder Medal star Scott Edwards joins Balwyn
New Balwyn captain Andrew Chalkley says the recruitment of international Scott Edwards to the VSDCA is “awesome for the club and great for the Subbies’’.
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Balwyn recruit Scott Edwards will have a good reason for missing a few matches next season.
He will be off captaining the Netherlands at the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
In between his international commitments, Edwards, 28, will play for the VSDCA Tigers in a development new Balwyn captain Andrew Chalkley called “awesome for the club and great for the Subbies’’.
Edwards will be among the most decorated players to appear in Sub-District cricket.
He’s had 69 ODIs and 79 T20s for the Netherlands, won a Victorian Premier Cricket Ryder Medal with Richmond and played Second XI cricket with the Vics.
Two years ago the keeper and inventive, sweep-favouring batter was called up to the Melbourne Renegades squad as a replacement player for the BBL, but never played a match.
Edwards – who was raised in Australia – played for the Netherlands in the ICC World Cup in 2023, helping it to two rousing victories.
More recently he starred in the T20 World Cup qualifiers.
Chalkley and Edwards played together at Richmond, and Chalkley said that when he left the Tigers at the end of 2017-18 he didn’t imagine they would be teammates again.
But he made contact with him recently, asking if Edwards had any interest in joining the Subbies. He did, and he has.
“He’ll play all of the games up until Christmas and then we might get him for the first and the second games after Christmas, depending on whether they need to go and get organised for the Twenty20 World Cup,’’ Chalkley explained.
“We’ll lose him the end of January and all of February and then he’ll get back, depending on where they finish.
“But we’ll have him available if we make finals.’’
Edwards played 82 Premier matches, scoring five centuries and making 144 dismissals.
He won the Ryder in 2020-21, polling 37 votes to defeat Carlton coach Evan Gulbis (35) and Prahran batsman Damon Egan (33).
As Edwards arrives in Subbies, Chalkley returns. He was a prolific run-scorer for Kew before heading off to Koonung Heights in the Box Hill Reporter association for two years.
Although he was disappointed with his performances on the synthetic wickets, he did crack five centuries for Heights.
Chalkley had four seasons with Kew and in each of them scored at least 500 runs. Six centuries – including 138 in the 2019-20 quarter-final – and 11 half-centuries gave him 2353 runs, made quickly and with a decisive swing of the bat.
Chalkley was part of the Kew team that suffered a surprise loss to Werribee in the 2020-21 grand final. He and his teammates made amends 12 months later by holding out Strathmore in the decider at Victoria Park.
In another lifter for Balwyn, it has regained Jackson Ellingworth from Fitzroy-Doncaster.
The paceman was part of the 2016-17 premiership team.
Originally published as Tiger time: Netherlands captain and Ryder Medal star Scott Edwards joins Balwyn
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