Sub-District cricket: Jacob Thorne signs at Caulfield for three more years

Good news for Caulfield, bad news for rival Subbies clubs: champion all-rounder Jacob Thorne has agreed to a new three-year deal at the Fielders.

Caulfield will have Thorne in its side for three more years.

Amid speculation another VSDCA club was keen to lure him away from Caulfield Park, the Fielders have locked in their champion player Jacob Thorne until the end of the 2021-22 season.

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Thorne, 30, has won the Val Holten Medal in his each of his three seasons at Caulfield, a Subbies record, and is a boiling favourite to extend his run of top awards to four.

He finished the home-and-away season on top of the batting and bowling charts, cracking 648 runs at 49.8, with three centuries, and jagging 42 wickets at 12.4.

Under his captaincy the Fielders have won the past two premierships. They were this season’s minor premier and are on course to become the first Caulfield team to win three flags on the hop.

“Both parties were keen to continue, so it was a very easy process to reach agreement with Jake in the end,’’ Caulfield director of cricket Shaun Richardson said.

“Jake’s performances as a player and leader with Caulfield over the last four years speak for themselves. The club is excited about what the future holds.’’

Thorne joined the Fielders from the Geelong Cricket Association and has been remarkably consistent with bat and ball — 661 runs and 46 wickets in 2015-16, 713 runs and 41 wickets in 2016-17, and 626 runs and 45 wickets in 2017-18.

Thorne said he was “100 per cent happy’’ at Caulfield.

“Love the place. We’ve had success — that’s always a big part of it — and the people there, particularly those who have been there a long time, have welcomed me with open arms,’’ he said.

“I’m really enjoying my cricket there and hoping to repay the faith from a few years ago when they recruited me.’’

This weekend Thorne will lead Caulfield into a quarter-final against Elsternwick, which climbed from 10th to sixth in the final round.