Leader experts pick their Premier Cricket Team of the Season 2019-20
Victoria’s top-flight cricket competition boasts some of the finest talents in Australia and we tried to narrow them down to a best XI of the season. See who Paul Amy and Ben Higgins picked here.
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Talk about a ton of talent.
There was a host of nominations but we could pick only 12 in Leader’s Premier Cricket Team of the Year.
Record-breaking batsmen and bowlers headline a star-packed line-up, and some of the best young talents in Victoria proved their potential.
Paul Amy and Ben Higgins put their heads together and this is what we’ve come up with.
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LUKE WELLS (Casey-South Melbourne – 773 runs @ 70.27)
The Sussex left-hander supplied one of the highlights of the season when he went within 10 runs of scoring a triple century, his 290 against Greenvale Kangaroos coming off 275 deliveries and carrying the sparkle of 14 sixes and 33 fours. It was the highest score in the Swans’ long history and the highest in District/Premier Cricket since Bill Lawry’s 282 not out for Northcote in the 1964-65 grand final. Wells also hit centuries against Fitzroy Doncaster (115 not out) and Frankston Peninsula (159) to top the competition run list but for all that the Swans finished down the list.
JAMES SEYMOUR (Essendon – 666 runs @ 47.57, 22 wickets @ 13.18)
The swashbuckling batsman backed up his 777 runs (922 including finals) last season with another swag, the second most in Premier Cricket behind his opening partner Luke Wells. Add 22 wickets with his handy leg spin and Seymour is in Ryder Medal contention. Unlike 2018-19 when he scored three centuries and five single-figure scores, Seymour was far more consistent this campaign, knocking up five half-centuries and three single-figure scores. Seymour also impressed at state level, scoring 233 runs – including two more half-centuries – for the Victoria Second XI.
BLAKE THOMSON (Melbourne – 629 runs @ 52.42)
Technically pleasing, patient and stylish, the right-hander counted centuries against St Kilda (108) and Frankston Peninsula (101 not out) in a run tally of 629 at 52.4. Only Luke Wells and James Seymour made more runs than the former Victoria squad member, and only Wells and University pair Alex Gregory and Andrej Yaksender had better averages than Thomson. The ton against St Kilda came in a run chase and Saints coach Glenn Lalor says it’s the best innings he’s seen this season.
ALEX GREGORY (Melb University – 622 runs @ 56.55, 22 wickets @ 18.77)
In the former South Australia rookie’s second season of Premier Cricket he almost doubled his output for Melbourne University. Having crossed from Sturt last season, Gregory scored 364 runs, but smashed that mark in 2019-20. Add finals and there’s little doubt he’ll surpass his previous career-best haul of 644 in 2015-16 with the Blues. The stylish batsman scored three consecutive half-centuries from Round 3-5 before finally breaking through for his maiden Premier century, 113 not out against St Kilda. Like Seymour, he adds a dangerous bowling option.
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ANDREJ YAKSENDER (Melb University – 607 runs @ 55.18)
Having missing almost the entire 2018-19 season to further his university studies in Ireland, Yaksender plundered runs at will in 2019-20. The classy middle order batsman joined his teammate Alex Gregory in scoring a century (115) against St Kilda – in a 225-run stand – and added three half-centuries to finish the year fourth on the competition’s run-scoring charts. His form was recognised with a Victoria Second XI debut in February but he could only manage seven and a duck against Western Australia.
BRAYDEN STEPIEN (Carlton – 523 runs @ 43.58) (WK)
The Adam Gilchrist of Premier Cricket. A power-hitting opener at Carlton, Stepien will have to slide down the order in this outfit as he takes the gloves. His brilliant Super Slam campaign saw him recognised with a call up to the Melbourne Renegades and he added another 300 runs – with a top score of 90 – for the Victoria Second XI. An equal career-best 128 not out against Melbourne University was one of two centuries on the season and his 30 combined dismissals was the fourth most in the competition.
DAVID KING (Ringwood – 571 runs @ 38.07, 25 wickets @ 13.52)
There have been few better Premier players in the past two decades than DA King. Here is a measure of his consistency: his run tally this season of 571 at 38.07 was his lowest since 2010-11. His aggregates in between, starting from 2011-12, have been 853, 799, 618, 806, 916, 629, 736 and 609. This season he added an 18th century to his list, 106 against Kingston Hawthorn, as he finished 10th on the run charts. His 25 wickets at 13.5 – good enough for 15th overall – made him as must-pick.
MARCUS BERRYMAN (Monash Tigers – 34 wickets @ 13.59)
The all-rounder has been on the Premier scene for a while – he made his debut for Camberwell Magpies in 2011-12 – only for injuries to hold him back. But with his pace bowling and powerful batting he’s an exciting cricketer and starting to show his best more consistently. Berryman took 34 wickets at 13.6 as his best return of 5-30 in 9.5 overs flattened Essendon in the final round. He also cracked 278 runs at 21.4 but his best batting came in the Victorian Super Slam (191 runs at 38.20) and the National T20 Championships (67 at 22.33).
JAMES NANOPOULOS (Dandenong – 46 wickets @ 12.50) (C)
Just as Luke Wells brought attention to the competition with his 290, the Dandenong star put Premier Cricket in blinking lights with his dazzling haul of 9-26 against Greenvale Kangaroos. “Did ‘Nano’ really take 9-26?’’ a former teammate said in a message to Leader. Indeed he did, culling the first eight Kangaroos. What a season he had: he recorded Dandenong’s best bowling figures, became the club’s highest wicket-taker – passing Roger Gill’s tall of 313 – and equalled Gill and Will Carr’s season-aggregate high of 46 wickets. He also cracked 260 runs. Nanopoulos doesn’t captain Dandenong but he’s an experienced, shrewd and attacking cricketer. He can skipper this side.
SURAJ RANDIV (Dandenong – 34 wickets @ 17.71)
The right-arm off-spinner signed off from the season with a superb 4-27 off 30 overs, 18 of them maidens, as the Panthers pushed for victory over St Kilda in the final round. Only an innings of rare skill and poise from Adam Crosthwaite denied Randiv and his team. The 35-year-old finished the season with 34 wickets (46 when the Super Slam is included) at 17.7, figures befitting a slow bowler of international class (he played 12 Test matches and 56 ODIs for Sri Lanka, and has 681 first-class wickets).
SEAN McNICHOLL (Greenvale Kangaroos – 36 wickets @ 22.36)
In his first full season of Premier Cricket, McNicholl was brilliant despite Greenvale’s struggles. The young paceman claimed the second most wickets in the competition, behind only Dandenong great James Nanopoulos. McNicholl finished the season in style, claiming a career-best 6-18 in the Kangaroos win over Frankston Peninsula and backing it up with 5-75 against Fitzroy Doncaster in the final game of the season. Only once did he go wicketless and picked up multiple scalps in 11 of 15 matches.
12TH MAN
CAM STEVENSON (Carlton – 32 wickets @ 10.81)
Given Stevenson’s rush of wickets, it’s fair to say he would have been in the XI if he’d played more than 11 games this season. Despite his lack of opportunities, the Carlton ace still snared the eighth most wickets in Premier Cricket and his average and strike rate were both No.1 among the top-50 wicket-takers.