Premier Cricket: Dandenong’s Ed Newman joins St Kilda

The Saints have signed former Victorian rookie Ed Newman, the latest player to leave Dandenong.

Ed Newman batting for Dandenong last season. Picture: Valeriu Campan

A new man for St Kilda’s batting line-up.

It’s Ed Newman, the stylish Dandenong left-hander and former Victorian rookie.

Rumours about Newman leaving the Panthers to join the Saints surfaced last week and became fact last night when he informed Dandy coach Warren Ayres he was on the move.

Since the grand final loss to Prahran, the Panthers have lost James Nanopoulos, Lincoln Edwards, Peter Cassidy, Jacques Augustin, Jack Fowler, Suraj Randiv and now Newman from their XI, as well as 12th man Comrey Edgeworth.

On top of that, champion batsman Tom Donnell is weighing up his future.

His long-time opening partner Brett Forsyth has already taken over as captain.

Ironically, Dandy will look to replace Newman with his younger brother Angus, an emerging right-hander.

St Kilda captain Adam Crosthwaite said today Newman had approached the Saints about a switch of clubs.

Ed Newman made his maiden century last season.

“I don’t know what happened at Dandenong but we got pretty lucky, to be honest,’’ he said.

“He knocked on the door. It wasn’t on our radar, it really wasn’t. Then we got to have a conversation with Ed. He’s a great kid and everyone I speak to about his cricket ability has big things to say. We’re super-excited and very fortunate to have him at the Saints.’’

Newman made less runs than his admirers hoped for at Dandy, but Crosthwaite said the 21-year-old had a lot of ability.

“But he knows himself that his numbers aren’t as good as what they can be and what they probably should be,’’ he said.

“He spent some time in the Victorian system, he spent some time with the Melbourne Stars, and the people picking those teams aren’t dumb. They’ve seen him play a lot more than I have, and he’s now in a position where he was given an opportunity, he’s now out of the system and he needs to fight his way back into it and become the player he wants to be.

“In the conversations I’ve had with him he knows he has to put the hard work in and he knows he’s got a battle in front of him. He’s keen to get to work. We’re over the moon to add a quality player and a quality person.’’

Ayres said Dandenong was disappointed to lose Newman, who played 77 First XI matches and made his breakthrough century last season, 120 against Melbourne University.

He said Newman told him he wanted a change of scenery and St Kilda was a “big club where he would be under more pressure and should be able to do better, and it hasn’t worked for him at Dandenong for five years, etc, etc’’.

“It’s disappointing for the people who have put a lot of time and effort and management into him, but it is what it is,’’ Ayres said.

“But we’re still upbeat about things. We’re happy with the team we’re going to have and the environment we’re going to provide.’’

Newman hit 274 runs at 30.4 for the Panthers last season. He was also drafted in to the Melbourne Stars Big Bash squad.