MPCA: Main Ridge appoints club legend Gareth Wyatt as coach

Gareth Wyatt will coach Main Ridge for a second stint, almost a quarter-of-a-century after he first took on the role.

Gareth Wyatt has scored 9,932 runs, at 40, for Main Ridge. Picture: Chris Eastman

Gareth Wyatt played his first game of cricket for Main Ridge at the age of six.

At 20, he was already regarded as a Ridge champion when he took on the role of club coach in 1998.

All these years on and Wyatt, now 44, is again stepping forward to lead the club he regards as his second home.

Main Ridge finished on the bottom of the ladder in MPCA Peninsula last season and felt the sting of relegation.

Wyatt, who will lend support to skipper Jordy McCulley, says he intends to change things up, with an emphasis on fun.

“To kick us off this year we need to get into some of the fun stuff and plenty of camaraderie early,” he said.

“But we also need to be hitting more balls, doing different stuff, be more selective about the way we go about it.

“We can’t just be bowling and batting in the nets for the sake of it.”

Main Ridge president John McEncroe (left) shakes on it with new coach Gareth Wyatt. Pic: Facebook

Main Ridge will play against the likes of Carrum, Dromana and Crib Point in MPCA District next season and Wyatt believes the Cougars can bounce back strongly.

“Our kids will be another year older,” he said.

“Hopefully with a solid pre-season some of them can start taking the next step.”

Wyatt recently sat down with Frankston Peninsula chairman of selectors Brad Glenn and “picked his brain” about coaching strategies.

He plans to implement those plans at Main Ridge.

“Some of those things really got me thinking and got the competitive coaching juices flowing,” Wyatt said.

“That was really good to have access to someone of his ilk.”

Main Ridge batsman Ed Aarons on the drive. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Wyatt coached Main Ridge for two seasons in 1998-99 and ‘99-2000 and remembers the club being in similar shape to what it is now.

“In a way it’s not too dissimilar to where we are now, with a group of youngsters coming through,” he said.

“We were very young or very old. There wasn’t too much in the middle.

“The likes of Ed (Aarons) and Trav (Barker) would have been 15 or 16, coming into the ones at that time.

Main Ridge batsman Charlie Banks.

“And here we are, 270 and 297 games later, they are still running around in the ones and still having a massive contribution.

“That’s been a strength of the club, its core group for the past 25 years.”

Wyatt has played at Main Ridge for his entire career, apart from a five-year stint at Mt Eliza as assistant coach in the mid 2000s.

Crib Point has also had a change of coach, with Adam Keulen taking the reins.

Keulen has played for the Magpies for the past 15 years and is known for his hard-working attitude on and off the field.

“I believe the only way we can take the next step is to have some change and to get everyone to buy into that,” he said.

“We are a fantastic club with great blokes and mates, however that won’t be enough to win us premierships, which is the end goal.”

Carrum’s bowling attack will have a sharp edge next season after the Lions regained paceman Lachy Dobson.

He returns after playing in three premierships with Lysterfield Cricket Club in the Ferntree Gully association.

At Frankston YCW, Neil Barfuss has been reappointed captain-coach.