Jeevan Mendis and Peter Sweeney win DDCA medals

Former Sri Lankan international Jeevan Mendis and Cranbourne superstar Peter Sweeney have cleaned up at the Dandenong District awards. Here’s the latest.

Former Sri Lankan international Jeevan Mendis is adamant his experience and the freedom in which Narre South allow him to play with contributed to him winning the Allan Wookey Medal.

He becomes the second Lion in four summers to take home the medal awarded to the player of the Turf 1 Dandenong District Cricket Association season.

Mendis, 40, played 80 international matches for Sri Lanka and believes he lent on that know-how to take home the coveted award.

“Just my experience, playing international cricket and franchise cricket,” he said.

“I have retired from cricket, so I don’t spend as much time at practices, but it’s all about using experiences when playing in this tournament.

“I thoroughly enjoyed playing, I still love the sport, that’s why I continue to play on Saturdays.”

Jeevan Mendis in one of his 80 matches for Sri Lanka. Picture: AAP

Mendis trailed Springvale South’s Ryan Quirk with four matches to go before storming home to win the award by five votes.

Despite finishing with 389 runs at an average of 48.6 and 25 wickets at 16.7, Mendis admits he took some time to adjust to the slow Straithard Reserve wicket.

“As I started the tournament I was getting used to the conditions and the wickets, these wickets are much slower,” he said.

“The Narre wicket is very slow, so I was getting used to it, but by the end of the season I was doing well every match, so I was confident I would get some points.

“The Narre South coaches, supporters and people were really good, I was really free to do what I wanted to do to achieve.

“I was enjoying the game, playing with freedom, it’s what made me achieve that award.”

Cranbourne’s Peter Sweeney, meanwhile, took out the Charles Gartside Medal as player of the Turf 2 season for the second successive summer.

His 12-match season grossed 366 runs at an average of 40.7 and 34 wickets at just 10.1.

While he is proud to be just the second player to win back-to-back Gartside Medals, Sweeney says the award is bittersweet.

“I don’t look into medals and any of those individual awards, I don’t set myself to win them, but yeah I am proud to have won it again” he modestly explained.

“It would’ve been nice if I wasn’t ineligible after last season, it would’ve been good to be playing in Turf 1, it’s probably a little bittersweet.”

Sweeney launches a ball in his Dandenong days.

As Cranbourne has been premiership favourites for a number of seasons now without propelling into the top-flight, Sweeney admits he would trade both medals in for this season’s flag but would also expect most cricketers to do the same thing.

“I would trade them all in for a premiership, I don’t think there is many players that would say otherwise, that is what you’re there to do,” he said.

“Individual awards are great but at the end of the day you’re at the club to do a job and that job is to win premierships.

“You wouldn’t want to have to give it away, but if you had to, you would.”

With less big performances with the bat this season, Sweeney was surprised to have taken out the award.

“Winning it was actually surprising, I actually said to Mick (his brother) on the way there that I wasn’t any chance of winning it,” he said.

“I have been a little disappointed with how I have batted this year, I haven’t capitalised on a few starts.

“Whereas last year it seemed like when I got a start, I made 50 plus, and that’s how you be consistent and that’s how you win games.”

DANDENONG DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Turf 1 Allan Wookey Medal: Jeevan Mendis (Narre South)

Turf 2 Charles Gartside Medal: Peter Sweeney (Cranbourne)

Turf 3 Medal: Nuwan Kulasekara (Dandenong West)

TURF 1 TEAM OF THE YEAR

1. Ryan Quirk (Springvale South)

2. Leigh Booth (Hallam Kalora Park)

3. Jake Hancock (Berwick)

4. Jordan Wyatt (Springvale South)

5. Jeevan Mendis (Narre South)

6. Jonty Jenner (Narre South)

7. Michael Davies (Buckley Ridges)

8. Ciaron Connolly (Hallam Kalora Park)

9. Hadigallage Jayaratne (Buckley Ridges)

10. Sachith Jayasingha (Hallam Kalora Park)

11. Jarryd Straker (Springvale South)

12. Jordan Hammond (Hallam Kalora Park)

Ryan Quirk on the drive. Picture: Valeriu Campan

TURF 2 TEAM OF THE YEAR

1. Tyler Clark (Beaconsfield)

2. Yohan Arumadura (Keysborough)

3. Michael Sweeney (Cranbourne)

4. Brent Patterson (HSD)

5. Peter Sweeney (Cranbourne)

6. Zach Allen (Narre Warren)

7. Matthew Collett (Cranbourne)

8. Ryan Patterson (HSD)

9. Surien Silva (Lyndale)

10. Ryan Hendy (Doveton)

11. Rajika Fernando (Lyndale)

12. Mark Cooper (Beaconsfield)