Emerging Monbulk fast bowler trying his luck at Premier level
Braden Taeuber, one of the Ferntree Gully and District association’s most promising cricketers, has joined Premier club Dandenong.
Outer East
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Braden Taeuber will be hard to miss when he lands for pre-season Premier Cricket training.
At 6’7 he tends to stand out.
And Dandenong hopes Taeuber gains some attention for his fast bowling too as he tries his luck at Premier level.
The 20-year-old has joined the club from Monbulk, where last season he snared 26 wickets at 16.23 in the Ferntree Gully association.
It included a haul of 4-19 off 11 overs in the Division 2 preliminary final against Rowville.
He was also selected to play for the VCCL Under 21 team.
In the previous season Taeuber took 23 wickets and hit 337 runs and was named the association’s best Under 21 player, receiving the Bob Parish Medal.
Dandenong coach Warren Ayres said new Panthers assistant coach Craig Slocombe had seen Taeuber bowl and recommended him.
“He’s a bit of a smoky. Hopefully he can come in and do all right,’’ Ayres said.
“He’s very tall and he’s got good pace. He’s untested at Premier level, of course, and he’ll probably have a lot of rawness about him. But hopefully he’s got some tools we can develop.’’
Ayres said understood Taeuber had been a wicketkeeper-batsman but had had a growth spurt at the age of 16 and took to bowling.
“Getting so tall probably encouraged him to bowl … it was probably too far for him to keep crouching!’’ he said.
The Panthers have secured two other fast bowlers, with Adam McMaster returning after a stint at Melbourne and Jack Fowler crossing from Kingston Hawthorn.
Dandenong has farewelled two of its longest serving and most popular players, with Peter and Mick Sweeney returning to their junior club, Cranbourne, Mick as coach and Peter as an assistant.
Peter played in the 2010-11 premiership and Mick made a First XI century.
Between them they played 34 seasons for the Panthers.
In other news from Shepley Oval, former Sri Lankan batsman Asanka Gurusinha has joined the club as a specialist batting coach, and state player Nicole Faltum has been appointed captain of the women’s First XI, replacing Emma “Gags’’ Gallagher.
Gurusinha and Ayres go back a long way: they played against each other in a youth World Cup.