Premier Cricket 2020-21: Evan Gulbis outlines Carlton’s expectations

Captain-coach Evan Gulbis gives his verdict on Carlton’s crack bowling attack and where the Blues can improve in Premier Cricket.

Carlton's Brayden Stepien goes on the attack. Picture: Arj Giese.

Evan Gulbis describes Carlton’s bowling attack as “first-class”.

Few would disagree with the captain-coach’s assessment, and opposition batting line-ups are unlikely to get any respite in a Premier Cricket season of one-day fixtures.

The Blues boast a trio of bowlers with experience in the state ranks – Cameron Stevenson (34 wickets at 11.26 last season), Xavier Crone (30 at 18.27) and Gulbis (27 at 13.11).

Matthew Wilson – described by Gulbis as “arguably on his day the best of all of us” – returned 20 wickets at 16.55.

Spinner Eddy O’Sullivan, a member of Cricket Victoria’s Emerging Performance Squad, is coming off a quiet season but claimed 36 wickets in 2018-19 and is a superb performer with the white ball.

Experienced all-rounder Tom Smyth also has more than 200 First XI wickets to his name.

Evan Gulbis appeals for a wicket for Carlton. Picture: Mark Dadswell

“I think the key is just that relentless pressure we can provide week-in, week-out, knowing we’ve got seasoned bowlers,” Gulbis said.

“Some guys can sometimes have a bad day, but that’s OK because the rest of us pick up the slack.

“Our bowling will be our strength again, but we’ve got some pretty handy batters who can hopefully have some fruitful seasons if they get runs under their belt early.”

Nathan Patrick has also returned and adds depth after collecting 26 Second XI wickets in 2018-19, while Nick Woods grabbed 25 scalps in the seconds last summer.

The Blues have lost Kyle Scheepers, who has crossed to Seddon after making three appearances in the top side last season.

But they boast a power-packed squad and deserve to be rated among the premiership favourites after winning the ultimate prize in 2018-19.

Carlton celebrates its 2018-19 premiership. Picture: Arj Giese

Carlton finished the home-and-away rounds in fifth spot last season and advanced to the second week of finals before the campaign was scrapped amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Brayden Stepien will spearhead the batting after hitting 569 runs at 43.77 last season and earning selection in the Team of the Year, while the likes of Smyth (392 runs), Gulbis (386) and Nick Ross (355) help form a potent line-up.

Gulbis is hopeful young batsman Mackenzie Harvey, Crone and Stepien will gain opportunities at higher levels in coming months through state cricket and the Big Bash League.

“If anything we’re stronger because hopefully we’ll get ‘Macca’ (Harvey) back for a period and the guys we debuted last year have now played half a season in the firsts. They should be better for the experience,” Gulbis said.

“We’re just looking at trying to improve. We didn’t play great cricket last year, so if we can get back to what we did two years ago in regards to big run-getters and things like that, that would be good.

“Last year we got stuck with a few games where there was a bit of rain and we only bowled one week and we bowled first a lot of times in one-day cricket last year.

“We had four bowlers average (18.27) or less, so you’re not chasing many runs, and if you’ve got a Brayden Stepien opening the batting, there isn’t many left for anyone else.

“So you get to three-quarters through the year and none of your batters have made many runs, but you’ve won every game quite convincingly.

“Hopefully we’ll get a few more runs for all our players by finals time and everyone will be in form.”

Gulbis and Stepien will enter the new season in red-hot form after sharing an extraordinary 368-run partnership for Greater Northern in the Tasmanian grade competition earlier this month.

Gulbis cracked 226 not out from 199 balls and Stepien 223 from just 158, the pair hammering 45 boundaries and 14 sixes between them.

“It was fantastic to witness it first hand out in the middle,” Gulbis said.

“I tell you what, it’s almost gone the other way where Brayden is coaching me these days rather than the other way around.

“He helped me through my innings quite nicely and he was striking the ball beautifully, pretty much from ball one.

“It was good to have a big partnership together and hopefully we can do that a few more times this season for the Blues.”

While Carlton is a contender, it also has one eye on the future as it searches for eventual replacements for the likes of Gulbis, Ross and Tom and Harry Smyth.

Gulbis said the club was “looking for that next crop of First XI players” with several youngsters set to go through the seconds and thirds.

“That might detract a little bit in our week-to-week performance in our lower grades, but that’s OK because we’re blooding some new players that could be exciting for the club,” he said.

The Blues will host Melbourne University in a blockbuster Round 1 clash on Saturday.