Premier Cricket 2024-25: Ex-BBL all-rounder Arjun Nair spearheads Camberwell Magpies’ rise

Former NSW cricketer Arjun Nair arrived with lofty expectations. He’s more than held up his end of the deal, helping the battling Camberwell Magpies into finals contention for the first time in years.

Arjun Nair has been a revelation for the Camberwell Magpies this season.

It’s little surprise he’s been central to the Magpies’ rise this season.

Former New South Wales all-rounder Arjun Nair hasn’t missed a trick in his maiden campaign with the club since crossing from Premier rival Footscray.

Expectations were high for the former Sydney Thunder man when he signed in June.

And with 403 runs and 19 wickets so far, the 26-year-old has held up his end of the deal, helping the club from a lowly 2023-24 finish and into the top eight.

Just ask Camberwell Magpies coach David Alleyne.

“He’s fitted into the club seamlessly,” Alleyne said.

“He’ll arrive at training between four and 4.30 and he’s there until eight o’clock when we finish, so it’s awesome to have a player of his calibre that presents himself in that way.

“Not only to the younger players, but some of our more seasoned players get to see how committed he is, hence why he’s been so successful.”

Averaging 15.26 with the ball while driving four half-centuries – including knocks of 83 and 85 – consistency has been a cornerstone of Nair’s game this season.

“I’ll go as far to say that when he’s bowling at his best, there wouldn’t be an off-spinner in the competition that would come close to him. He’s a real handful,” Alleyne said.

“While he hasn’t made 100 for us as of yet, he’s right up there with some of the best stroke players in the competition.”

Alleyne says Nair provided a “visual learning for everybody”.

“Because he’s such a free-scoring batter, he really puts opposition bowlers under a lot of pressure. The margin for error is very small for them when he’s batting very well,” he said.

“That has a flow-on effect to the batters around him – he’s taking a lot of the pressure away from them.”

Another leading the charge is Liam Fitzpatrick.

Following on from 492 runs in 2023-24 and 707 in 2022-23, the young gun has turned out 500 this time around, averaging 62.50 from nine matches.

On the weekend he fell agonisingly short of a second century this season, with 95 of the Magpies’ 7-238 total in a 10-wicket win over Greenvale Kangaroos.

Alleyne is certain there’s higher honours in store.

Camberwell Magpies' Liam Fitzpatrick raises the bat.

“I’ve been super-impressed in my time at Camberwell with Liam,” Alleyne said.

“He’s one of the best young players in the competition – there’s a lot of talented players, but there aren’t lots of talented run-scorers and Liam certainly is a run-scorer.

“He’s missed a couple of games through injury, and with the way he’s batting, he’d be right up the top of the run-scorers.

“He reads the game incredibly well … I’m sure in time he’ll get further opportunities to represent Victoria (and) I’m sure the selectors will have a keen eye on him.”

The Magpies sit sixth on the ladder following 13th last season – Alleyne quick to point out: “It’s not something that has happened overnight”.

“This has been a work in progress – it comes from the committee, president, my coaching team and the players,” he said.

“We’ve had to blood some young players … the most pleasing thing is the development and growth, not just as cricketers but as young men.

“We don’t have any expectations – our expectations are to commit to our gameplan, understand our strategies and apply our methods.

“Those are our benchmarks, and by doing that we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, and if things don’t go right, we don’t get too down on ourselves.

“We recognise we have a number of years of development and growth ahead of us which is extremely exciting.”