Premier Cricket 2023-24: Camberwell Magpies sign Kingston Hawthorn captain Shorye Chopra

The Camberwell Magpies have added significant batting power to their books with the signing of a rival captain. Here’s how it happened.

What a lifter for the Camberwell Magpies.

The Premier outfit has signed Kingston Hawthorn captain Shorye Chopra in a major boost to the batting order.

The 26-year-old has carved out 116 top-flight matches at Premier level, with the right-hander putting up 505 runs last season.

He topped the Hawks’ batting in 2021-22, highlighted by two consecutive unbeaten tons, and has driven no fewer than 350 runs in his past three campaigns.

Shorye Chopra is now a Magpie. Picture: Mark Wilson

Camberwell Magpies coach David Alleyne said the former United Arab Emirates under-19 representative was “looking for a new challenge” in his move.

“He certainly feels that some of his best cricket is in the years to come and I think he liked the environment that we presented to him at Camberwell,” Alleyne said.

The Magpies finished last season in 15th spot with three wins, with young gun Liam Fitzpatrick enjoying a breakout campaign at the crease.

He finished the season with a career-best 707 runs at an average of 44.2 – including a blitz of 154 against Dandenong – at just 20 years of age.

Alleyne said the injection of Chopra would complement the likes of Fitzpatrick and the emerging group.

“From a temperament perspective, knowing him as I do as a character, I think he’ll be an extremely good fit and really beneficial to the club,” Alleyne said of Chopra.

“We’re one of the younger clubs within the competition, and we’ve made some really good strides from a batting perspective, bringing in some new players and getting them some first team experience.”

Alleyne said the Magpies would remain active on the recruiting front this off-season, but conceded former state paceman Andrew Fekete would be difficult to replace.

The ex-Magpies captain recently crossed to Subbies outfit Malvern.

“You’re not going to really be able to replace somebody of his years and games and cricketing nous,” Alleyne said.

“From a coaching perspective it’s tough to fill his boots but we believe we’ve made significant strides forward in terms of some of the coaching personnel that’s come on board this year.”