South East Cricket Association: East Sandringham appoints Shane Hesline as coach

East’s new coach says the club is headed for “exciting times” and has outlined his plans for season 2022-23 and beyond.

East Sandringham’s new coach Shane Hesline: Facebook

East Sandringham got their man.

When it became known that respected coach Shane Hesline had left Bonbeach, the Eastenders went after him.

Trouble was, so did a host of other clubs.

But East Sandy won out, signing Hesline as their coach this week.

“He was very sought after so we’re pretty chuffed that we’ve got him,” East Sandringham president Rob Knight said.

“He certainly interviewed very well and because we’ve got such a young crew at East Sandy we just had to get someone who works on relationships as well.

“He’s a relationship builder…he said, ‘it’s club, team and then self’.”

Hesline has a mutual friendship with East Sandringham vice president and former North Melbourne CEO Greg Miller.

Knight believes that friendship “probably got us across the line”.

Hesline had five productive seasons at Bonbeach and was credited with growing the Cricket Southern Bayside club’s culture and improving its cricket ability.

He plans to do similar at East Sandringham with his one-club, all-inclusive mantra.

“When I went to Bonbeach they hadn’t had anyone from outside the club coach there,” Hesline said.

“Yesterday one of the (East Sandy) fathers rang me and said he’d heard I was doing it and he thinks it’s great that East Sandy are looking outside of their own people and they’re bringing in a fresh set of eyes and a new set of ideas.

“We don’t really invent the wheel, do we? It’s just about getting the processes right…at cricket clubs it’s more about getting the foundations right which is probably your lower grades.

“I use the pyramid theory that if you get the lower grades right, the top team will take care of itself. But if you concentrate only on the top side, well, your pyramid will probably fall down pretty quick.”

Hesline said he also wants to help develop the growing female cricket program at East Sandringham.

Flashback: Shane Hesline playing for Moorabbin Park.

“I’m happy to help, it doesn’t matter what standard, or if you are the best cricketer or worst cricketer in the club, you still should be getting my time,’’ Hesline said.

Hesline played over 300 games for Moorabbin Park and also coached the club.

He believes East Sandringham, with a crop of emerging players, was headed for “exciting times”.

“Looking at the senior sides, it’s probably a bit of a transition period with the older superstars getting into the twilight of their careers and they’ve got a bunch of basically 16 through to 24 years olds coming through,” he said.

“Yeah, exciting times.”

On the playing front, Chris Diggle will continue as captain of East Sandringham, with Matt Harris vice-captain.

The pair topped the Longmuir Shield run chart in 2021-22, with Harris making 577 runs, at 72.1, including two centuries, and Diggle scoring 561 runs, at 51.

Chris Diggle.

Matthew Harris.

The club is buoyed by news its great wicketkeeper batsman Brett Hampton is making a return to action next season after concentrating on work commitments in recent seasons.

Knight said the club was on the look out for a strike bowler.

“We’re looking good at the moment, we’re just chasing a bowler,” he said.

“Shane’s got a lot of contacts and obviously Chris Diggle played Premier Cricket for five years and we have other irons in the fire.

“Hodgy (Brad Hodge) said he’d look around for a bowler. They’re as scarce as hen’s teeth. And the ones who are available want way too much money.

“I think we’ve got plenty of batsmen but we probably need a real frontline bowler.”