Game on: Sub-District cricket south-west section preview

Port Melbourne is back in the fold and Spotswood will make its debut in Round 1 of the VSDCA south-west section. Here is how the teams are shaping up.

The VSDCA season starts on Saturday with a record 32 clubs.

“Play.’’

It’s a word cricketers will be happy to hear this Saturday when, after months of uncertainty, they take to the field for the start of the 2021-22 season.

As with last season, the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association has fixtured one-dayers for all games.

The Subbies took in four clubs in the off-season – Port Melbourne, Spotswood, Strathmore and Donvale – extending to a record 32 affiliates.

In the south-west all clubs are remarking on the strength of the section, with recruits of the calibre of Adam Bull, Peter Cassisy and Lincoln Edwards.

Here’s a run-down of how the teams are shaping up.

Altona

Coach: James Grubb

Captain: Adam Yates

Last season: 11th

In: Nil

Out: Greg Sheehan

Snapshot: after an uneventful off-season as far as recruits go, the A’s will look to skipper Adam Yates (409 runs last season) and former VSDCA team of the year member James Grubb to lead from the front. Greg Sheehan has retired and David Kinsella looks likely to drop down to the seconds. In their place, several young players who played in the club’s seconds finals campaign last season will push up into the top team, namely Matt Grubb, Matt Turcinovich and Fawwaz Abdul Sathaar. Mitch Cullen and Shannon Clarke took a combined 35 wickets last season and will again be relied on with the ball.

Brighton’s Ricky Damiano.

Brighton

Coach:

Captain: Ricky Damiano

Last season: semi-finals

In: Peter Cassidy (Dandenong)

Out: Henry Pearson

Snapshot: the Tonners secured a prized recruit in Dandenong premiership player Peter Cassidy, one of the most accurate and hard-to-score off bowlers in Premier Cricket. Aside from his stingy medium pace, Cassidy will strengthen the batting: it was his half-century and partnership with Jacques Augustin that lifted Dandy into last season’s grand final. He joins five other former Dandenong players at the Brighton Beach Oval: Ricky and John Damiano, Brenton Murphy, Charith Cooray and Justin Butterfield. Ricky Damiano will again captain the Tonners, coming off a 2020-21 season in which he cracked 643 runs and assumed the record for most centuries in the VSDCA. His side defeated Malvern in a quarter-final, only to be flattened by Blade Baxter’s pace a week later. The Tonners should come again.

Caulfield paceman Lachlan Graf.

Caulfield

Coach: Adrian Jones

Captain: Jacob Thorne

Last season: south-east premier

In: Dan Forbes (Hampton), Oliver Hayes (East Ballarat)

Out: Josh Agar, Jayden Banks

Snapshot: It’s easy to predict another successful season for the Fielders given they’ve played in the finals every year since 2002-03. Last season under the captaincy of Subbies great Jacob Thorne they won their fourth flag in nine seasons when they defeated Ormond in the grand final. And in the off-season they brought in East Ballarat paceman Oliver Hayes and Hampton captain Dan Forbes, who extends a St Kilda connection strong through Graeme Rummans, Lachie Graf and coach Adrian Jones. The Fielders returned the favour by steering young fast bowler Jayden Banks to St Kilda. Promising opener Josh Agar went to Prahran. Thorne, Rummans, Graf, David Tantsis-Hall, Jon Aikins, Dale Denny, Andy King, James Small, Forbes, Hayes, Aaron Fetter … with that type of talent Caulfield will remain in the top rungs of the ladder.

Lincoln “LJ’’ Edwards.

Elsternwick

Coach: Ben Cavey

Captain: Lincoln “LJ’’ Edwards

Last season: 10th

In: Lincoln Edwards (Dandenong), Dasun Opanayaka (Dandenong), Zac Grundmann-Perera (Dandenong), Maxwell Tucker (Melbourne), Kalhan Sineth, Zach Peddersen (Ballam Park)

Out: Pat and Josh Gorman, James Earp

Snapshot: No Subbies club recruited better in the off-season than Elsternwick. Batsman Lincoln “LJ’’ Edwards returned after a good Premier career at Melbourne and Dandenong, where he featured in a flag. And he brought with him his cousin Zac Grundmann-Perera and Dasun Opanayaka. Both are all-rounders and both appeared at First XI level for Dandy. Maxwell Tucker, another all-rounder, has crossed to Elsty after a long stop at Melbourne and the Wicks also picked up offie Kalhan Sineth, who made his name in Subbies with a haul of 7-45 off 34 overs in a final for Noble Park. Edwards and club great Cam Christensen, who will act as vice-captain, will lead a new-look team that should quickly rise up the ladder.

Hoppers Crossing

Coach: Anthony Williams

Captain: Bhaumik Jani

Last season: 7th

In: Ajay Bhatt (Carnegie)

Out: Trent Said, Cameron Nicol

Snapshot: The Cats secured star all-rounder Ajay Bhatt in a boost to their hopes of returning to finals action. Bhatt arrives at Hoppers Crossing after three seasons as captain-coach at Cricket Southern Bayside outfit Carnegie, where he contributed 929 runs and 25 wickets. The Cats, who have not contested finals since 2015-16, will be captained by off-spinner Bhaumik Jani, the club’s leading wicket taker last season with 20 scalps. The respected Craig Swan has come on board as an assistant coach and Stephen Frenkel will again serve as director of coaching. Chris Henry, Sanka Abeyruwan and Brett Smith will again be relied on to fire with the bat.

Michael Beer batting for Malvern.

Malvern

Coach: Chris McCormick

Captain: Michael Beer

Last season: quarter-finals

In: Joe Doyle (Camberwell Magpies)

Out: Luke Walker, Glen Parker

Snapshot: with ex-Premier Cricket batsman Luke Walker moving on, former Test man Michael Beer takes over the captaincy of the Roosters. Beer returned to the club last season and was outstanding with the ball and a fierce competitor. Malvern will miss the runs of Walker and class act Glen Parker, leaving it relying on Tom Rickarby and Randev Pathirana and looking for more from the others in the order. Joe Doyle has crossed from Camberwell Magpies and should perform reliably and steadily with the ball. Malvern grabbed a home final last season, only to fray in the late overs with its bowling and lose to the chasing Brighton. It should be around the mark again under the shrewd captaincy of Beer.

Melton

Captain-coach: Brad Jones

Last season: 12th

In: Nil

Out: Nathan Taylor

Snapshot: it’s young talent time at Melton, which will rely on its group of talented up-and-comers to push it up the ladder. The Lions have lost their leading batter Nathan Taylor, who has joined Werribee. Skipper Brad Jones acknowledges it’s a big loss but is taking a glass-half-full attitude. “It just provides more opportunities for younger blokes to take that step up and be the man,” he says. Jaskirat Singh and Matt Stead will again play key roles with the ball. Joel Mitchener and Jason Hibbert are promising players who can achieve good things with the bat.

Moorabbin

Coach: Kosala Kuruppuarachchi

Captain: Roshie Livera

Last season: 13th

In: Praveen Dilanka, Caleb Lefebvre, Janik De Silva, Jarred Kelly, Jumin Shaiju

Out: Nil

Snapshot: A new coach for the Binners in ex-Sri Lankan fast bowler Kosala Kuruppuarachchi. He replaces Duran Murrian, who will stay on as a senior player. Kuruppuarachchi was an assistant at Moorabbin last season and made a good impression and contribution, club stalwart Al Marion said. “He’s a very knowledgeable fellow, quietly spoken, and his understanding of the game is fantastic,’’ Marion said. “He’s been a specialist coach at (Victorian) Premier level and an A grade coach in Sri Lanka.’’ Kuruppuarachchi played two Tests for Sri Lanka, against Pakistan in 1986 and New Zealand in 1987. He will work with reappointed captain Roshie Livera. Although the Binners finished down the list last season, they did rise to the grand final of the T20 competition. And they’ve strengthened their squad, adding a good allounder in Praveen Dilanka and regaining Jumin Shaiju from Kingston Hawthorn. Shaiju should add some runs to the batting, which is weaker than the bowling. Aside from bringing in some recruits, Moorabbin has retained all of last season’s First XI players, a vote of confidence in Livera.

Oakleigh star Alexander Jones.

Oakleigh

Coach: Jack Blyth

Captain: Brendan McGuinness

Last season: semi-finals

In: Simon Jones (Fitzroy-Doncaster), Jordan Brambleby (Fitzroy-Doncaster)

Out: Michael Splatt, Graeme Vimpani, Zac Raymond (shoulder injury)

Snapshot: like Caulfield, Oakleigh has for a long time been a finals regular in the VSDCA, unbending in the pursuit of contending. The Oaks were at it again last season, finishing as minor premier, defeating Box Hill in the quarter-final but then falling to the Fielders in the semi-final, McGuinness (61) left to play a lone hand in a total of 119. Mick Splatt and Alexander Jones have got the Oaks out of many a tight spot over the years, but this time the lack of runs couldn’t be disguised. The Splatt-Jones partnership has been split with the retirement of Splatt. Oakleigh, however, should still be able to keep most batting line-ups in check through Jones, a champion of the competition, returning paceman Jordan Brambleby, Ryan and Blake Pearson, Geoffrey Latham and Jack Blyth. Recruited as a premiership player from Fitzroy-Doncaster, Blyth (now club coach) took 26 wickets with his left-arm spin last season, but struggled for runs. In fact a few of the Oakleigh batsmen will be out to improve on their numbers. The return of Simon Jones from Premier ranks will add to the batting effort.

Ormond

Coach: Murray Ring

Captain: Ben Speake

Last season: grand final

In: Adam Bull, Rory Freeman, Cormac Hassett

Out: Blade Baxter, Luke Heath, Lee Weiss, Dylan Rhys-Jones, Sachin Varadarajan

Snapshot: A few notables losses for the Monders, including left-arm quickie Blade Baxter and two other grand final selections in Sachin Varadarajan and Rhys-Jones. But what about the inclusions? Adam Bull has joined from Prahran, where he played much good cricket and scored a lot of Premier runs. You suspect he’ll have some good days in the Subbies this season. Cormac Hassett is a well-performed player in Gippsland cricket and played in the NT this year with Ormond skipper and ace batsman Ben Speake. And Rory Freeman, a decorated under-age player with Ormond, returns after a stint with Premier club Melbourne. With James Wild and Rodney Bird going on, everything points to the Monders being strong again.

Port Melbourne

Coach: panel of Josh Boyle, Chris Sewell and Adnan Khawaja

Captain: Luke Boyadjian

Last season: played in Division 2 of Cricket Southern Bayside

In: Jonathon Crowe (Carlton), Adnan Khawaja (VTCA), Noah Borg (Yarraville), Mack Burdett (returning)

Out: Nil

Snapshot: A stern test awaits Port Melbourne as it returns to Subbies after a long absence. A VSDCA foundation member, it was one of the four clubs brought in for the expansion to 32 teams. Port played in the third tier of CSB last season; it’s a big jump to go from there to the VSDCA in what will be a strong section. “We’re under no illusion. We’re not going to play finals and a premiership is a fair way off,’’ president Chris Sewell said. “There’s been a lot of talk around the quality we’ve got. We’ve picked up a couple of handy players and if everyone improves that little bit more, 10 per cent, we’ll be competitive. That’s the aim, to be competitive. It’s going to be a lot harder than what we’ve experienced in the last four or five years.’’ On the recruiting front, Port has picked up former Carlton batsman Jonathon Crowe and young Yarraville wicketkeeper Noah Borg, and regained veteran Adnan Khawaja. Khawaja, a left-hand top-order batsman, played first-class cricket in Pakistan and has held senior coaching positions across a number of Melbourne competitions. He made a century for Port when it won the grand final against Moorabbin Park in VTCA South A in 2009. More recently he had a run in its Masters team. Khawaja was also a prominent run scorer for Seddon in the VTCA. “Part of the appeal for him to come back was us going back to Subbies and him wanting to play at a higher level,’’ Sewell said. Crowe earned attention in WA club cricket five years ago when he smacked 216 not out in a T20 game. He played Second and Third XI cricket with Carlton in 2018-19 and 2019-20, scoring a century against Ringwood in the thirds. Sewell said Crowe, who appeared in WA First Grade cricket for Gosnells before heading to Victoria, had moved into the local area. Seeking more opportunities, Borg contacted Port after its return to Subbies was confirmed. Top-order batsman Luke Boyadjian has been reappointed captain.

Alex Deuchar bowling for Mt Waverley.

Taylors Lakes

Captain-coach: Alex Deuchar

Last season: 14th in north-east

In: Alex Deuchar (Kingston Hawthorn), Trent Waring (Greenvale Kangaroos), Buddika Janith (North Dandenong), Kaiden Jackson (Kingston Hawthorn), Amardeep Sran

Out: Luke Jones, Ryan Treloar, Amit Padwal

Snapshot: after a winless 2020-21 campaign, the Lions have recruited strongly and are set to be big improvers. Kingston Hawthorn paceman Alex Deuchar will lead from the front as captain-coach, while Trent Waring has returned to his junior club to spearhead the bowling attack after 13 seasons with Premier Cricket outfit Greenvale Kangaroos. Taylors Lakes needed to add experience and it has, also signing former Sri Lankan first-class spinner Buddika Janith and Kingston Hawthorn all-rounder Kaiden Jackson. The newcomers will slot in nicely alongside left-armer Hoa Lai, who’s coming off a golden season in which he grabbed 26 wickets at 12.27, and the Lions’ best player, Jarrod Wakeling.

Jakson Knight will skipper Spotswood.

Spotswood

Coach: Dan Schuppan

Captain: Jakson Knight

Last season: played in second tier of the VTCA

In: Riley Vernon (Airport West), Liam McGibbon (Yarraville)

Out: Nil

Snapshot: after spending most of its 92 years in the VTCA, Spotswood makes the big move to Subbies to give its strong juniors an opportunity to play at a higher level. Known for its strong club culture, Spotty’s young and talented side will be out to find its feet, rather than vie for premiership glory, in 2021-22. But don’t be surprised if they surprise a few sides. “We have a fantastic culture in our club, from our First XI down to our Fourth XI,” club president John Wheeler said. “(Coach) Dan Schuppan has done a fantastic job bringing our club together. We believe with our passion and our history we will go better than some people think. We think we’ll be not too bad.” Former Victorian Under 17 and Footscray Premier batter Jakson Knight will captain Spotswood in the historic season. In two seasons at Spotswood, he’s piled up over 1100 runs. Mac Short, who skippered the side last season, will be a key player along with gun batter Jarryd Vernon. Vernon’s brother Riley, a Gisborne and Waratah (Darwin) premiership player, has come across from Airport West St Christopher’s and will strengthen the batting. Tall left-armer Max Buck (24 wickets last season), bowler Matthew Sazenis and classy keeper Ross Horkings will also play key roles.

Werribee’s Jonathon Burton.

Werribee

Coach: Chris Hennessy

Captain: Tim O’Brien

Last season: north-east premier

In: Hamish Winter-Irving (Footscray), Nathan Taylor (Melton)

Out: Brad Apps (retired)

Snapshot: after their amazing against-the-odds premiership triumph last season, the Tigers look like fielding an even stronger side after adding two star recruits. Footscray opening bowler Hamish Winter-Irving, a former Victorian Second XI player, is a fantastic addition. And Melton batter Nathan Taylor is another excellent pick-up, strengthening an impressive top order led by gun batsman Shaun Dean, who has scored more than 1100 runs in the past two seasons, Matt Dean and Tim O’Brien. Werribee’s bowling stocks look healthy with the likes of Jon Burton, Michael Kelly and Matt Palmer. Premiership player Chris Hennessy has taken over as senior coach, replacing O’Brien, who will continue as First XI captain. O’Brien says Werribee is a stronger side “on paper’’ than last season and its challenge will be to turn potential into performance in the south-west group.

Williamstown’s James Cook sweeps.

Williamstown

Captain-coach: Sean Sturrock

Last season: quarter-finals

In: Nil

Out: Brent McMinn

Snapshot: with leading batter Brent McMinn retiring, former Premier spinner Sean Sturrock takes over as captain-coach of the Seagulls. Sturrock returned to the club last season and underperformed by his high standards. He’ll do better now he’s used to the Subbies wickets. Williamstown did well to make the finals (where it was knocked out by the strong Kew) last season considering it had to play every game away while its ground was redeveloped. Back on their home deck and with James Cook, Mitchell Streiff and James Grixti set to lead the batting and Sturrock, Daniel Popa and Mitch Ferrie ready to make an impact with the ball, the Seagulls can be a contender.

Yarraville

Coach: Matt Grose

Captain: Luke Reid

Last season: 10th

In: Nil

Out: Josh Hahnell, Mitchell Cross, Sam Shearer

Snapshot: the Eagles will have a new captain and a bunch of fresh faces this season. Outstanding batter Josh Hahnell, who plundered 545 runs last season, has gone to play Premier Cricket with Melbourne Uni. Yarraville will also be without all-rounder Sam Shearer, who is not playing due to work commitments, and opening bowler Mitchell Cross, who is taking a season off. But the Eagles have some terrific youngsters coming through, including bowler Zachary Koch, batter Josh Devlin and Max Pritchard, a promising all-rounder. Jamie Tapper and Archit Shukla will be looking to fire with the bat.