DVCA: Montmorency lands gun spinner, Lower Plenty welcomes Subbies bowler

A gun Barclay Shield spinner has found himself a new club while a Subbies bowler will play in the Mash Shield next season. Here’s all the latest DVCA news.

The off-season is beginning to heat up across the Diamond Valley Cricket Association.

Here are some of the big stories from clubs in recent weeks.

LAURIMAR RE-APPOINT DRINKWELL AS COACH

Adam Drinkwell will lead Laurimar into the Money Shield after he was re-appointed as coach following last season’s premiership.

He will be assisted by Andy Crook, who played first class cricket for South Australia and Ray Kelsey.

Aaron Bailey has been appointed as the club’s senior operations lead while Matt Hewat will be the head coach of Laurimar’s emerging talent program.

Club president Evan Woolnough said he is excited about the club’s prospects heading into the new season.

“We have a coaching group that has experience from the elite level to the community level and that is rare to find at this level,” he said.

“The playing group will no doubt benefit from this structure as we look to cement our spot in Money Shield whilst also being super competitive in all other grades.”

Aaron Bailey, Ray Kelsey, Adam Drinkwell, Andy Crook and Matthew Hewat.

Drinkwell is looking forward with the same level of optimism.

“We had a terrific season last year and our coaching group did a really good job in preparing the group each week,” he said.

“We are looking to take our professionalism to new levels this coming season and to have the experience we have within this structure will be extremely beneficial for the playing group.”

GUN SPINNER LANDS AT MONTMORENCY

Montmorency has done its chances of chasing promotion to the Barclay Shield no harm following the arrival of John Kulikowski.

The gun all-rounder, who bowls left-arm off-spin, joins the Magpies from Epping.

Last season he took 27 wickets at an average of 12.93.

John Kulikowski has signed for Montmorency.

“Killa has been one of the leading bowlers in the DVCA over the past decade, continually finishing among the leading wicket takers,” Montmorency said in a social media post.

“A fantastic addition to the playing group, Killa will reunite with new coach Andrew Bennett.”

LOWER PLENTY ANNOUNCE MORE SIGNINGS

After announcing the return of Ben Rowe, in late May Lower Plenty announced three new faces.

Among those includes the return of Jack Sassella who is a premiership player in the Mash and Money shields.

Darcy Guiliani and Matt Staples have also joined the club.

Meanwhile, Cayden Turner has linked up with the Mash Shield outfit.

Turner featured in Preston’s Subbies First XI at different points of last season.

RIVERSIDE CONFIRMS COACHING STRUCTURE

Luke Rosbrook will remain in charge of Barclay Shield premier Riverside next season.

Rosbrook will also serve as the chairman of selectors with Luke Money appointed as his assistant coach.

Nathan Chrimes will captain the side for the next two seasons.

EPPING APPOINTS NEW COACH

After competing in last season’s Barclay Shield finals series, Epping has turned to a new man to go even deeper in 2022-23.

Daniel Bramich, who joined the club before the beginning of last season, has been appointed as the club’s new coach.

Daniel Bramich was named Epping's new coach earlier this month.

He took 15 wickets at an average of 17.33 last season.

Epping also confirmed captain Tom Emmins, Josh Henkel and Todd Hughes have re-signed.

Kristy Carbis has been appointed as the Pingers’ senior women’s coach.

LALOR STARS APPOINT CO-COACHES

Money Shield club Lalor Stars has turned to Ricky Mittica and Wayne Dow as its senior coaches for next season.

Dow has been part of the club since the 2002-03 season while Mittica joined the Stars ahead of the 2015-16 campaign.

Mittica has also captained the First XI and T20 sides.

“We want to get this club back to where it belongs, on top both on and off the field,” Mittica said in a post on social media.

BUNDOORA ANNOUNCE COACH AND GUN RECRUIT

Bundoora legend Wayne Wunhym has stepped up to fill the void of senior coach ahead of next season.

Wunhym enjoyed a successful Premier Cricket career as a hard hitting batsman.

Prince Singh has signed for Bundoora.

He also led the club’s last First XI premiership as captain.

Wyunhym’s appointment came several weeks after the club announced the signing of wicketkeeper-batsman Prince Singh from Mitcham.