Preston secures new First XI captain, has recruiting decisions to make

After missing out on Michael Stretton two seasons ago, Preston has got its man, appointing the experienced leader as VSDCA First XI captain.

Preston coach Luke Bramich with new captain Michael Stretton.

Preston has appointed Michael Stretton as its new First XI captain for 2021-22.

Stretton arrives after two seasons as captain of Greenvale Kangaroos in Premier Cricket and has also led Bankstown and Parramatta in Sydney Grade cricket.

He takes the role after Michael Hayes’ decision to retire.

The middle order batsman scored 234 runs, including two half-centuries, at an average of 23.40 for the Kangaroos this season.

Stretton will bring invaluable experience and leadership to the Bullants said president Stephen Wilson.

Michael Stretton in action for Greenvale Kangaroos. Picture: Hamish Blair

“We had a chat to Michael when he first moved down from Sydney … he still had the competitive desire to play at the highest level so he went to Greenvale,” Wilson said.

“He felt like a move, we again had a chat and put forward a good argument and he decided to accept our offer.

“You don’t find players like Michael every day of the week, especially with that sort of background, he’s one of the most experienced captains we could hope to bring to the club.”

It’s a major coup for the club with some major recruiting decisions to make this off-season.

The Bullants leading run-scorer Thimera Jayasinghe has returned to Sri Lanka, while leading Second XI wicket-taker Kai Turner and spinner Gurnaz Khatra are expected to try their hand in Premier Cricket.

After winning just three games in 2019-20, Preston launched up the North-West conference ladder with nine wins to finish fourth before bowing out in the first week of finals.

The club’s Second XI won the premiership from third while the Third XI also made finals.

“We had three out of four teams play finals and the Second XI won it, so the club was quite happy with that,” Bramich said.

Preston wicketkeeper-batsman Sajith Kalumpriya. Picture: Steve Tanner

“The First XI made finals for the first time in 10 years, that was a massive leap forward and now we aspire to go on and win a final and potentially the premiership.”

Jayasinghe topped the Bullants’ run-scorers charts with 362 runs at an average of 30.17, pipping teammates Upul Bandera (355) and Sajith Kalumpriya (348).

Marcus Murphy was the club’s leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps.

All four players were new faces in 2020-21, giving Preston arguably the recruiting class of the season.

“Marcus reached out when he saw I got the coaching gig and was a massive recruit for us,” Bramich said.

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“The credit has to go to the kid himself because he’s played at Epping for so many years and it’s very hard to move out of a culture you’re so used to and I commend him for stepping out of his comfort zone.

“Same with Upul, he came from St Bernard’s, he felt he wasn’t getting the opportunity to fulfil his potential.

“CJ wanted to get back on turf after playing on synthetic, that kid is going to be one hell of a cricketer and Sajith ended up with close to 400 runs and won the MVP for the First XI.”

Former coach Alex Lewis will return to Preston City Oval in 2021-22 as a director of coaching.