Gisborne secures extraordinary international recruit that’s learnt from Aussie legends

Reigning GDCA McIntyre Cup premier Gisborne has secured an extraordinary international recruit who has played alongside Glenn Maxwell and under Ricky Ponting.

Obus Pienaar chats to Washington Freedom coach Ricky Ponting.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better local cricket recruit in all of Australia than this.

Two-time reigning GDCA McIntyre Cup premier Gisborne has gone international, securing South African-born American Obus Pienaar.

The hard-hitting batter is a teammate of Glenn Maxwell and was coached by Ricky Ponting at MLS club Washington Freedom.

Pienaar played in the MLS final, alongside Maxwell, fellow Aussies Mitch Owen and Ian Holland and New Zealand aces Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips and Lockie Ferguson, which the Freedom lost to New York.

He took a catch and finished four not out from two balls as his team came up five runs short.

The 35-year-old represented South Africa at the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup and has played 95 First Class matches in his native country.

Now he’ll terrorise bowlers in the Gisborne District.

Dragons captain-coach Jarryd Vernon said the club had connected through the Free Agent portal.

“His name popped up and we grabbed it,” Vernon said.

“He wants to come out to Australia, he lives in America, and wants to come out with his family and play some cricket.

“He could have played anywhere but we had a chat through email, he’s just finished up in the MLS, and he’s pretty keen to get over here.”

Pienaar is expected to arrive in early October after competing in the Atlanta Open tournament.

Gisborne led the GDCA McIntyre Cup in runs last season but Vernon said strengthening the batting had been an off-season focus.

“We were looking to strengthen our batting, so to get a player of his calibre – he’s played 90 odd First Class cricket in South Africa – is going to be a really good asset,” he said.

“Not just for the senior group but mentoring our juniors, he’s obviously been around world-class players and his insights into the game are going to really help.

“He’s going to be here the whole time, which is going to be great for us.”

Pienaar isn’t the only recruit.

Melton VSDCA captain Brenton Cook and Aberfeldie opener Paul Sammut will join Pienaar, the Vernon brothers, Jarryd and Riley, and Spencer Jones in a powerful top-order.

Sammut finished with 282 runs in the VTCA Senior Division last season, scoring an impressive 114 against Sydenham Hillside.

The Dragons have retained their premiership-winning squad, except for UK imports Josh Wills and Josh Brown.

Riley topped the competition run-scoring charts last season with 989 runs at an average of 61.81, while Jarryd was third with 703 at 50.21 and Jones 12th with 462 runs.

Leigh Brennan finished the season with the second most wickets, 37 at 15.3, while Riley Vernon was fourth (28 at 18.82), and Jarryd and Wills were joint seventh (23 wickets).

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“We’ve got everyone on board, which is nice,” Vernon said.

“We’ve picked up a couple of guys, Brenton Cook from Melton – he was captain there – and Paul Sammut who was at Aberfeldie, they’ve both just moved to Gisborne.

“Obviously, we’ve lost the two overseas boys but everyone local is sticking around and we’re looking forward to getting into it.”

Gisborne will be looking to make it a hat-trick of McIntyre Cup premierships this season.