Premier Cricket: Champion all-rounder James Nanopoulos has made the decision to return ‘home’
Premier Cricket great James Nanopoulos will finish his career where it started, saying there “was always the pull of coming back home”.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
James Nanopoulos will finish his distinguished Victorian Premier Cricket career where he started it.
After a three-year stint as captain of Frankston Peninsula, the champion all-rounder is returning to Dandenong.
Nanopoulos, 36, was among the large group of players that left the Panthers after their grand final season of 2020-21.
Speculation about his future has been swirling in Premier Cricket circles pretty much since the end of last season, and as late as last week there was talk he would stay at the Heat in a coaching capacity.
But yesterday afternoon he agreed to terms for a return to Dandenong, where he played 236 matches, including three premierships.
With 366 scalps he is the club’s most prolific wicket-taker. He also hit 4364 runs.
“Good question. There was always the pull of coming back home, to the club where I played so much of my cricket, in the twilight of my career,’’ Nanopoulos said when asked why he had returned to Shepley Oval.
“I’ve got a lot of mates at Dandenong. That was a big thing, to finish off there. Once we got talking (with Dandy), it happened pretty quickly.’’
He said he’d had discussions with Frankston Peninsula about going on “but it’s been a bit messy in the last three months, looking to see who was going to be head coach’’.
“It didn’t quite work out as best as it could have,’’ he said.
“But I loved my time at Frankston. Great people there and the facilities are fantastic. There are some great young kids coming through. Hopefully they can continue with the good things that are going on.”
Dandenong coach Tom Donnell said Nanopoulos’s decision to return was “a bit of a surprise”.
“The pull to come back must’ve got him in the end,” Donnell said.
“I try to stay out of it (recruiting), I let the club do all that stuff but it’s really good news for the club.
“He brings what he’s brought to the competition for 15-20 years, his consistency and everyone knows about his ability with the ball.
“I suppose now the big thing is his leadership. He can help Brett (Forsyth) and Willo (Matt Wilson), our two leaders, and improve that area of the club.”
One all-rounder replaced another at Dandenong, with Joshua Sawrey telling the club before the signing of Nanopoulos that he would be playing at Richmond next season.
Nanopoulos’s decision to leave Frankston Peninsula is another blow for the Heat, who last week lost their other leading all-rounder, Brodie Symons, to Prahran.
The club has also yet to appoint a senior coach to replace Paul Boraston.
It had been in talks with former Victorian captain Darren Berry but nothing came of it.
Nanopoulos returns to a club where he made his debut as a promising left-hand batter in 2005-06.
When the Panthers defeated St Kilda in the 2006-07 premiership, Nanopoulos opened the batting with Kumar Sarna.
But gradually his bowling became of more importance and potence to Dandy, and some spectacular hauls lifted him into headlines, most notably his 9-26 against Greenvale Kangaroos in 2019-20.
In 2020-21 he grabbed a hat-trick and return of 8-16 against Kingston Hawthorn; at one stage he had the remarkable figures of 6-0.
Every Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association off-season move
The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association off-season is in motion and clubs have made big moves for next summer. Keep up to date with every signing in our signing tracker.
Heidelberg continues Cup tradition
Heidelberg United has never lost to an interstate NPL club and booked its place in the Australia Cup Round of 16 for the sixth time with a testing win over Weston Bears.