New Preston coach Luke Bramich bullish on Bullants’ VSDCA hopes
New Preston VSDCA coach Luke Bramich believes the club’s years of development are ready to pay off and is confident the Bullants can move up the VSDCA ladder in 2020-21.
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New Preston coach Luke Bramich is confident the club is ready to breakout and climb the VSDCA ladder.
Bramich takes the reins at Preston City Oval from Alex Lewis and, despite two key departures, believes the Bullants’ list is as strong as it has been during his time at the club.
Leading run-scorer Gayan de Silva and wicket-taker Mahesh Kodamullage were both forced to leave Victoria due to visa issues.
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However, Upul Bandara (St Bernard’s), Marcus Murphy (Epping) and youngsters Sajith Shani (Footscray) and Akashdeep Cheema (Essendon) have signed on.
Bramich said the club was ready to reap the rewards of development program.
“Alex should be congratulated on his era as coach, which took discipline to develop the young kids and limited the number of wins on the board,” he said.
“I took on the job because I know the club quite well, I’ve been a part of the cultural shift and every person involved should be proud of that.
“I believe Preston has the four strongest sides it has had in the last four years.
“The experience that’s coming back to the club to develop players sparked something in me to want to take on the job as well.”
Murphy has taken 19 and 21 wickets in the past two Diamond Valley Barclay Shield seasons and will strengthen the Bullants pace battery.
All-rounder Bandara was down on his best last season but still managed 274 runs at 18.27 and seven wickets for the Snowdogs.
Bramich will be well supported by assistant coaches Michael Hayes, Dalis Thomas, Rachel Napolitano, Liam Ingram and Shane Turner.
Preston finished 13th in the North-South group last season, claiming three wins.
Bramich believes consistency will be the key to success in 2020-21.
“We just couldn’t put the batting and the bowling together in every game,” he said.
“With the recruiting done by Michael Hayes, the off-season has been absolutely fantastic.
“When we look at the win-loss record last year and how close we got, we are ready to make them wins and I think we’ve got the list to do that.”
While the season start remains clouded due to Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown, Bramich said the club would use it to it advantage.
“With all the unknowns heading into the season the plan is for everyone to have a strong mind and fit body,” he said.
“Our mindset is we’re starting in October but every week that it gets pushed back is a chance for us to be better prepared.”