Premier Cricket: Richmond’s Yash Pednekar signs with Casey-South Melbourne

Richmond has farewelled one of its brightest emerging talents – with a rival swooping on the young batsman. Latest here.

One of Premier Cricket’s brightest batting prodigies is on the move.

Richmond’s Yash Pednekar has crossed to rival Casey-South Melbourne, in a recruiting coup for the Swans who missed the finals this season.

The former under-16 Australian representative helped the Tigers to a semi-final berth with 394 runs this season – ranked second in the First XI – backing up from his showing of 444 in 2021-22.

Yash Pednekar drove 394 runs at 26.27 this season from 15 appearances with the Tigers’ First XI. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Casey-South Melbourne confirmed the signing on Wednesday morning, and coach Will Carr said a prior connection helped Pednekar to the Swans.

“I’ve got to know (Yash) a little bit over the last couple of years so general conversation turned into more pointed ones about what he wants to do with his cricket,” he said.

“He’s pretty clear about what he wants to achieve in the game and where he wants to go … we just had some discussions around what we’ve got with our set-up and structure and what the club’s got holistically from a facilities point of view as well.

“He wanted to tick some boxes that he feels he needs to, to be able to get where he wants to go … we feel we’re fairly well placed to provide that for him.”

A maiden top-flight century proved the height of the right-hander’s 2022-23 campaign, cracking 102 runs against Geelong.

In a recent interview with Leader, Pednekar credited a five-month stint with UK-based club North Leeds for his rise with the bat.

He’ll link up with the northern-England-based outfit again for their summer.

“Playing all around the year for the last couple of years has definitely helped – just playing in the nets you probably don’t get the same as playing under different conditions and challenges,” Pednekar said in February.

“In the UK, especially with the moving ball, it put me in good stead especially in terms of facing good fast-bowling.

“Here, it (the ball) doesn’t move as much ... I think that’s definitely helped me, playing more games and learning what I do well and knowing my game.”

Casey-South Melbourne finished the season in 13th spot with a 6-3-6 record – two wins out of the top eight – among a logjam of sides.

Carr is confident the young gun can help the Swans take the next step.

“You’ve got to have a real responsibility around who you’re talking to, and your approach – you need to make sure as much as they’re a good fit for you, that you’re a good fit for them,” he said.

“Our season last year ... we were right in it until the last game.

“For us, he’s established himself as one of the top young players in the competition so he’ll only add depth and options to our batting group, and his age demographic certainly suits what we need.

“We’ve got a nice balance of emerging players and stability with our older players – it’s a really nice fit for both parties.”