Footscray will have a new-look opening bowler combination in 2021-22

Footscray will unleash former state and Big Bash paceman Jake Reed on Saturday but who will join him in the Dogs’ new ball partnership?

Max Birthisel celebrates a wicket. Picture: Mark Wilson

Footscray will have a new-look new ball combination this season.

Opening bowlers Jordan Buckingham and Hamish Winter-Irving and state quick Jackson Coleman all departed over the off-season.

Former Victoria and Big Bash League paceman Jake Reed will open from one end, returning to Merv Hughes Oval after a 12-month recovery from a knee reconstruction.

However, his partner is yet to be confirmed.

Ben Roosenboom burst onto the Premier Cricket scene last season with 13 wickets at an average of 15.46 in just seven First XI games to go with 12 in six Second XI appearances.

Jonah Koch celebrates a wicket.

Fellow youngster Max Birthisel also claimed 13 wickets, at 30.00 in 13 games, while club great Dean Russ was the club’s second leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps.

Footscray coach Allan Wise conceded the club’s attack was raw but still possessed plenty of options.

“We’re well aware our bowlers are the more inexperienced part of our set up but with one-day cricket you don’t necessarily have to be taking 10 wickets every game, you just need to be disciplined,” he said.

“Jordy and Hamish took the new ball for the best part of last season but we’ve got Jake Reed back, who’s a pretty able replacement.

“He’s a lot more experienced, which will be very helpful to our younger bowling group, and he doesn’t have the pressure of a state contract on his shoulder and he can get back to enjoying club cricket.

“He’ll be a fantastic addition because he’s almost like a new recruit.

“Then we’ve got guys that have played anywhere between a handful of games and 20 games, guys like Ben Roosenboom and Max Birthisel are jostling for a (new ball) position.

“Then we’ve got Sid Dixit with his left-arm orthodox and Dean Russ, who’s a stalwart of the team.”

Dylan Brasher in action for Footscray.

Travis Dean in action for Footscray.

The club’s bowling depth will be bolstered as recruit Malith Cooray works back to full fitness from an abdominal injury.

The former Sri Lanka Under-19 joined the Dogs from VTCA club Westmeadows where he 201 runs and 16 wickets in 11 matches.

One the other side of the ball, the batting order appears far easier to pick.

The top five of Dylan Brasher, Daniel Sartori, Travis Dean, captain Dylan Kight and Russ is one of the strongest top fives in the competition.

Sartori led the Dogs with 536 runs at an average of 38.29 last season ahead of Brasher’s breakout season of 468 runs at 31.20.

After finishing second in 2019-20, Footscray tumbled down to 11th last season.

Valuable lessons were learnt about one-day cricket, which Wise believes will help the club jump back up the ladder in 2021-22.

“We’re going to be very hard to dismiss but we know we also left a lot of runs out there last season,” he said.

“We felt we left 20 or 30 runs out there, which you need, which was down to a combination of not having our best players out there at the end and not complementing each other – a lot of players were, for want of a better word, a bit reserved.

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“One-day cricket is all about momentum, we started off a bit patchy, got ourselves in a bit of a hole and were playing catch up – which brings its own pressures.

“We definitely learnt a lot about ourselves as a one-day team, as the 2019-20 season proves we can bat long periods of time and we didn’t quite translate as quickly to one-day cricket.

“We certainly have plans in place to combat that.”

Footscray kicks off its season with a trip to Fitzroy Doncaster.