Caulfield Cricket Club prodigy Sam Harper gets Victorian call-up after starring for Premier Club Melbourne

HE played in a Sub-District twos premiership as a 13-year-old and now, six years later, gun wicketkeeper Sam Harper will make his debut behind the stumps for Victoria.

Premier Cricket: Greenvale V Melbourne. Melbourne batsman Sam Harper. Picture: Kylie Else

CAULFIELD lost the 2010-11 Sub-District grand final, and that its fierce rival Malvern had the better of it added a bag of salt to its wound.

There was a crumb of consolation for the Fielders. Their Second XI won the premiership, defeating Brighton, and a group of particularly promising players featured in the team during the season: brothers Jack and Sam Harper, Will Pucovski, Sean Griffin and Chris Anderson.

The Harpers and Griffin played in the grand final. Pucovski and Anderson had school cricket.

Harper has been described as “explosive” and “a momentum-changer” with the blade. Picture: Kylie Else

It’s a source of great pride at Caulfield Park that all five of the lads have gone on to Premier Cricket: Sam Harper and Pucovski at Melbourne and the other three at Monash Tigers.

Only Anderson has yet to play Premier Firsts.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Harper’s career ascends to an exciting new level tomorrow when, at age 19, he makes his debut for Victoria in the Shield match against Tasmania at the MCG.

From Caulfield he went to Melbourne, spending a season in the thirds and two in the seconds before gaining a First XI debut in 2014-15, assuming the gloves from the long-serving Ash Middlin.

Two-time premiership player Middlin admits it was “a bitter pill to swallow’’ when his coach Andrew Kent told him the club was going with Harper. The fact that he’d been part of Kent’s wedding party a few months earlier presumably did nothing for the friendship!

But Middlin has enjoyed Harper’s rise, more so because he has known him since he was a lad. Bryan Harper, Sam’s father, taught Middlin at Yarra Valley Grammar.

“He’s a really good gloveman,’’ Middlin said. “Superb hands, good foot work, does everything right, ticks all the boxes. He’s always got the gloves on.

“If there’s anyone I wanted to give the gloves to, it was Sammy. The relationship goes back a fair way. He’s a wonderful kid. I think he’s going to be something special.’’

He said Harper’s batting was “explosive, exciting’’. Kent called it a “momentum-changer’’.

Run-making runs in the Harper family. Bryan Harper is a legendary figure at Caulfield and holds the club records for most First XI runs and centuries. Brian’s brother Laurie played 38 matches for Victoria through the 1990s and was good enough to hit a red-inked double century.

Bryan’s sons played juniors at Eildon Park but took their first steps as senior cricketers at Caulfield.

Harper celebrates a wicket for the Demons. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Sam started in the thirds and at the age of 12 marked his promotion to the seconds with an innings of 55 (his father made a rare duck).

“He could hardly see over the stumps, but he was a super little player,’’ Caulfield’s coach at the time, Shaun Richardson, said.

“He always had big ambitions. I remember that he was actually disappointed when we didn’t put him in the ones.’’

In 2010-11 Caulfield brought out a pacy West Indian, Daron Cruickshank. One night at training Cruickshank cranked it up at young Harper and a few players stopped to watch their battle.

“Sam played him really well, getting behind everything, ducking and weaving, playing nice and straight with a beautiful technique,’’ Richardson said.

“That’s when I thought, ‘S..t, he’s a really good player, this kid’. Wasn’t really surprised. He’s the son of our greatest ever batsman.’’

Melbourne stalwart Kent has seen Harper alloy to his ability a level of application that has earned him respect at the club and helped him to make “significant improvement’’ in the past two years.

“What he’s done from the age of 17 to 19 has come from listening, learning and training bloody hard,’’ Kent told Leader.

“He really has come a long way, with his keeping and his batting.’’

And he’s come a long way since his premiership success at Caulfield five seasons ago.

Victorian chairman of selectors Andrew Lynch on Sam Harper

“Harper is a great talent that has impressed each year in underage championships.

“He would have been Australia’s captain at the Under 19 World Cup had they gone so he has leadership qualities as well as being a top batting and wicketkeeping prospect.”