Premier Cricket: Casey South Melbourne coach Will Carr reflects on 2022-23 summer

While not reaching the same heights as it did last season, Casey South Melbourne coach Will Carr believes his side played better cricket at times than it did last summer. Here’s why.

Casey South MelbourneÕs Ashley Chandrasinghe in action during the Premier Cricket: Ringwood v Casey South Melbourne at Russell Lucas Oval in Ringwood, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Despite falling from grand finalists to 13th, Casey South Melbourne coach Will Carr remains ‘glass half full’, as he believes his side played just as good, if not better, cricket than it did last summer.

After rain guided their match with Geelong to a draw, the Swans’ Premier Cricket finals aspirations were ultimately squashed, eventually finishing nine points adrift of the top eight.

And while Carr says it was a disappointing finish to the season, he feels four final-over defeats going the other way would’ve reflected very differently.

“I think we’re still in the reflection stage, we’re already looking forward and planning,” he said.

“It’s funny, the outcomes won’t show but I think for a lot of parts we actually played better cricket this year than we did last year, we just didn’t get the results.

“We’re disappointed not to feature in the pointy end, but there are a hell of a lot of positives – four of the six losses were last over defeats.

“I think we’re in a good place, we don’t need to do a lot as far as shaking things up, it’s just about wanting to keep improving as a group and a club – I think we’re still on the right trajectory.”

Harrish Kannan in action. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Carr also announced positives out of some particular individuals.

Ashley Chandrasinghe and Ruwantha Kellapotha made their debuts for Victoria, while Harrish Kannan proved his 2021-22 summer was far from a flash in the pan.

“I think we ticked a lot of boxes this year, I am certainly looking at it as glass half full,” he said.

“We have had two players play at the next level, both Ash (Chandrasinghe) and Ruwy (Ruwantha Kellapotha), and Ruwy played BBL, which is something the club hasn’t had before.

“Then we have had Harrish Kannan and Liam O’Connor play under-18s (for Victoria), so from that perspective it’s really positive.

“From an emergence point of view, his (Kannan’s) average this year versus last year is elite for the competition.

“He’s backing up from 550 runs last year to 580 runs this year, for a 19-year-old to score almost 600 runs back-to-back, it’s a wonderful story.

“I am looking forward to him developing further.”

Will Carr will remain as Casey South Melbourne’s coach in 2023-24, contracted for a further two seasons.