Victorian Premier Cricket 2024 Dowling Shield preview
Featuring all 18 Victorian Premier Cricket clubs and more than 200 of the state’s best U16 cricketers, next month sees the return of the Dowling Shield. Meet all the clubs and stars to watch.
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Victoria’s best junior cricketers are set to battle it out in a reformatted Dowling Shield this summer.
From Tuesday, January 9 all 18 Victorian Premier Cricket clubs will enter the tournament that has been shifted to an under-16 format.
Teams have been split into three pools of six before a finals series is played on January 23.
Meet all of the young guns gearing up for the action.
CAMBERWELL MAGPIES
Players to watch: Jobe Fraser, a left-handed opening batter, will miss the early stages of the tournament as he plays for Vic Country but when he does return he will be key to his side’s hopes. Fraser also bowls some handy leg spin. Adam Rixon has enjoyed a fine season at local level, consistently taking wickets when thrown the ball and also having proven to be handy with the bat.
Squad: Rahul Bharadwaj, Seb Donnellan, Jobe Fraser, Finlay McGrotty, Ben Miller, Daiwik Rekhi, Adam Rixon, Oliver Scholfield, Lucas Smith, Charlie Smith, Vishisht Udainiya, James Web, Zac Wood.
CARLTON
Coaches: Todd Marchant and Harrison Smyth
Players to watch: Julian Pollard is one of the most exciting prospects in the Blues’ line-up with his left-arm pace. Pollard is also in the Vic Country under-17 squad. Aryan Sharma is a super talented all-rounder, who bowls very good left-arm off-spin and is an impressive stroke player with the bat. Salil Gudup can bat anywhere in the top-six and bowls handy medium pacers.
Squad: Anagha Bhan, Vincent Bush, Jack Campbell, Oscar Florentine, Oskar Granberg, Salil Gudup, Antone Harb, Sid Nayak, Julian Pollard, Jordan Rein, Aryan Sharma, Alvin Simon, Sachin Thotawatta, Ronit Verma, Patrick Ward.
Casey South-Melbourne
Coach: Lachlan Sperling
Players to watch: Akshay Ramukar is a right-arm off-spinner that has already developed a few tricks with his variations. Aahil Maredia is a talented opening batter who can score plenty of runs if given the opportunity. Rohan Mathew is likely to open the bowling for the Swans with his right-arm seamers often hitting the wicket hard.
Squad: Akith Abeywickrama, Tom Baron, Ryder Crawley, Aaron D’Souza, Nikhil Kasarla, Aahil Maredia, Rohan Mathew, George McCausland, Simarjit Pawar, Archer Quelch, Akshay Ramkumar, Reshen Senevirathne, Heath Womersley, Cooper Wood.
Dandenong
Players to watch: Riley Harris has enjoyed a strong season brilliantly for his local club Inverloch and arrives in the tournament as a player who can score quick runs. Jake Zappulla has already played some representative cricket for Gippsland Pride this season and will be a key figure for Dandenong’s hopes with the ball. Tom Merry has scored plenty of runs for local club Ormond already this summer and has shown he can score quickly if given the opportunity.
Squad: Isaac Bolge, Ashton Ceeney, Abhi Chhina, Hayden Finkelde, Riley Harris, Tom Merry, Mohammad Najibi, Rhys Newman, Brendan Plumb, Shehzac Singh, Navdeep Singh, Nayeel Syed, Ibby Wahid, Hunter Woodruff, Jake Zappulla.
Essendon
Coaches: Archit Bhatia and Jasper Wilson-Keir
Players to watch: Luay Miraz is expected to be one of the quicker bowlers in the competition after previously clocking 125km/h. Viraaj Aulakh is a powerful batsman, an ability which was on full display when he hit a T20 hundred earlier in the season. Simrth Singh Gill can turn a game with bat and ball, expect him to play some eye catching shots.
Squad: Viraaj Aulakh, Mehar Singh Banipal, Navjot Bhardwaj, Devasses Brar, Simrth Singh Gill, Advith Godala, Kanish Gupta, Luay Mirz, Krishna Mohan, Vansh Sandhu, Samin Shafquat, Prabsimran Singh, Maan Singh, Andrew Thakur, Rison Wickramasurendra.
Fitzroy-Doncaster
Players to watch: Joseph Dossor is a talented bowler who has enjoyed a strong season for local teams, Seville and Croydon, with 23 scalps to his name. Rupptaz Kharoud has played plenty of cricket this season and has consistently shown an ability to go on and make a big score if given the opportunity. All-rounder Yash Goel is capable of breaking the game open with the bat or ball as shown by his form already this season.
Squad: Zac Disney, Joseph Dossor, Lachie Gilligan, Yash Goel, Lachlan Green, Declan Herridge, Cohen Hine, Tate Hodgson, Rupptaz Kharoud, Neel Malangi, Seb Pascoe, Kade Pearse, Billy Rayner, Lachlan Rees, Jake Sheehan, Thisura Sooriyaatchi.
Footscray
Coach: George Shaw
Players to watch: Wendouree’s Murphy Skinner has been named as the skipper of the side and will add a brilliant all-round ability and “good cricket sense”. Santhosh Ramireddy is already making runs in the club’s Third XI as an opening batter. Riyan Bhasin from Sunshine Heights is no stranger to representative cricket and bats at the top of the order and bowls leg spin. Spinner Jackson Martin of Yarraville Club already plays First XI cricket for his local side and played in the VTCA rep team.
Squad: Riyan Bhasin, Zach Cotter, Charlie Eckel, Thomas Engler, Luke Gilham, Charlie James, Jackson Martin, Ryder O’Brien, William Pizaro, Santhosh Ramireddy, Murphy Skinner, James Stewart, Sam Wood.
Frankston Peninsula
Coach: John Forrest
Players to watch: Enrique Sidhu has already played a season of senior cricket with Frankston and is a quality all rounder who bats top four and bowls great leg spin. Dylan Gray is a left-hand top order bat who has an incredible eye and hits the ball long and straight. Matthew Stone is a talented all rounder and captain of the side. A left arm fast opening bowler and middle order hard hitting batsman.
Squad: Baden Albress, Charlie Caldecott, Ben Costa, Cooper Dornan, Isaak Edens, Will Forrest, Dylan Gray, Cody Irving, Ollie McGinley, Jake O’Brien, Cooper Remy, Enrique Sidhu, Leo Steenholdt, Matthew Stone, Tom Storr, David Warmbrunn.
Geelong
Players to watch: Liam Biddiscombe has Geelong extremely excited about his potential about his top order batting potential, who has been exposed to first grade cricket with North Geelong. Matteo Surace, originally from Portarlington, is a wicketkeeper and batter who has been playing A1 cricket with Barwon Heads. He boasts a strong technique and can move the game forward with intent. Lachlan Watson, a bowler from St Joseph’s is expected to take the new ball for Geelong and is also a handy left-handed batter.
Squad: Liam Biddiscombe, Jackson de Jong, Harry Emerson, Angus Ford, Charlie Hanegraaf, Tamar Holt, Charlie Mahncke, Maahi Patel, Madden Sadowy, Matteo Surace, Gus Walerys, Lachlan Watson.
Greenvale Kangaroos
Coach: Trent Waring
Players to watch: Wicketkeeper-batsman Chad Brookes is a rising star out of country Victoria after recently captaining North-East Knights in the Country Cup competition. Spinner Charlie Karaluwinne has plenty of tricks up his sleeve — wrong’un, slider and flipper which should cause headaches for opposition batters. Max Thompson from Nyah District is a bottom age player with a big future ahead of him as a right-handed batter and right-arm seamer.
Squad: Chad Brookes, Logan Collins, Pete Cooper, Will Graham, Ant Grobler, Lucas Holgate, Jashan Jaura, Charlie Karaluwinne, Abdul Majeed, Aidyn Matheson, Angus O’Brien, Harry Scardamaglia, Ansh Sharma, Nicholas Staropoli, Max Thompson, Armi Wakefield.
Kingston Hawthorn
Coach: Joel Lewis
Players to watch: Gurkeerat Singh Kohar will lead the attack bowling pace, can swing the new ball and has good skills at the death. Darcy Murray is a local boy from just up the road at Parkdale, a busy batter who hits the ball hard and has had a great start to the season. Frank McCammon has earned a reputation as a good seam bowler that hits the wicket hard, and also hits the ball hard batting in the lower order.
Squad: Imeth De Soya Amarasekara, Dihein Fernando, Jack Gibson, Tom Grimes, Roshan Gunatilake, Jett Kelly, Gurkeerat Singh Kohar, Hayagriv Mallichetty, Frank McCammon, Darcy Murray, Jack O’Donnell, Jack Power, Seyon Rajartnam, Aidan Sheffield, Gyan Weerasiri, Dylan Wells.
Melbourne
Players to watch: Nikki du Toit will miss the early stages of the tournament due to Vic Metro representation but the technically sound batsman will return at a key time for his side. James Rosham has plenty of ability with the bat and bat, and is another player who will miss the early stages of the competition as he represents his state.
Squad: Isiah Boston, Joe Curtain, Nikki du Toit, Milun Fernando, Matt Finkelstein, Sam Hawkins, Jack Hay, Max Kondogiannis, Archie McManamny, Roland Murphy, Max Parrott, James Rosham, Nick Xavier.
Melbourne University
Coach: Jeremy Peacock
Players to watch: Captain Will Scammell looms as an exciting talent as he prepares to travel from the state’s northeast to participate in the tournament. Ed Kreutzberger, one of the Students two vice-captains was recently named in the Vic Country under-17 team as a wicketkeeper and has plenty of hitting power. Darcy Lamont (the other vice-captain) and Harvey Redpath, who both play locally at Spotswood, will provide plenty with their own skills. Lamont is a classy opening batter while Redpath can hit the ball strongly. Will Smith from Melton joined the squad predominantly a bowler but his batting has come on in leaps and bounds in recent weeks according to his coach.
Squad: Dhruva Bezawada, Fatehnaraian Singh Grewal, Jarred Holding, Keller Holmes, Shaunak Kalra, Ed Kreutzberger, Darcy Lamont, Kobi Maynard, Nanak Oberoi, Paarth Pandey, Harvey Redpath, Will Scammell, Raj Singh, Will Smith, Jonathon Whiting.
Northcote
Coach: Ryan Siede
Players to watch: Parvan Singh is considered the standout player for Northcote as a left-arm fast bowler and top order bat who shows great leadership. Right-arm spinner Ben Lyons is another to keep an eye on, the coach said “(he) can spin it both ways, he’s got a really nice wrong’un”. At the top of the order is expected to be Bayswater’s Flynn Dexter who is fantastic technically and can also roll the arm over.
Squad: Arnav Bhargava, Flynn Dexter, Xavier Dodgshun, James FitzGerald, Cameron Gerreyn, Cadel Howlett, Japjeet Singh Khaira, Qasim Khan, Ben Lyons, Will O’Shannessy, Henry Paulson, Harry Purcell, Ethan Sharkey, Parvan Singh, Sridhar Parthasarathy Srivatsan, Joshua Vivek.
Prahran
Coach: Matt Wilcox
Player to watch: Axel Karlsson-Lacy has enjoyed a strong season with the bat and ball at all levels so far, which has included some games for Prahran’s Fourth XI. Oscar Scott-Waters is proving to be a handy batter on the rise with a couple of half-centuries to his name already this season. Parth Rath could turn a game with bat and ball given his strong start to the season with Kew.
Squad: Axel Karlsson-Lacy, Gilad Lowiner, Hamish Braden, Jack Massey, Lachie Simpson, Lenny Allsopp, Noah Green, Ollie Entwisle, Oscar Scott-Waters, Parth Rath, Phillip Galanopoulos, Pranav Mitta, Rayaan Kochhar, Thomas Davidson, Zac Chapman.
Richmond
Players to watch: Xavier Martin will be a man in form having already taken plenty of wickets at local level this season for his clubs including Langwarrin, Bonbeach and Emmanuel Oakleigh South. Siddhant Goel has showed plenty of promise throughout the season, having taken 17 wickets at 9.82 at local level so far this season.
Squad: Shriman Adapa, Griffin Box, Jack Czosnek, Siddhant Goel, Joshua Gunawardana, Charlie Johnson, Hughie Lynch, Xavier Martin, Luke McCann, Noah Montgomery, Charlie Morris, Dehan Nanayakkara, Will Naughton, Lincoln Nicholls, Ranbir Singh.
Ringwood
Coach: Harry Flynn
Players to watch: Jackson Edwards is already playing in the Ringwood Fourth XI, played some Craig Shield last year and he opens the batting, wicket keeps and should be right in the mix for Vic under 17s next year. Jack Childs is an all-rounder that bowls leggies and holds the record as the youngest First XI premiership player at Kilsyth Cricket Club. Aden Bates is a left-arm medium bowler that is also very handy with the bat — he plays his senior cricket at Bayswater.
Squad: Aden Bates, Camdyn Jones, Charlie Moore, Darcy Noonan, Erza Horneman, Jack Childs, Jackson Edwards, Lachlan Madigan, Luke Ivanovic, Mason O’Neill, Ryan Doherty, Saad Malik, Taj Johnstone.
St Kilda
Coach: Luke Gandy
Players to watch: Gus Kennedy, from Carrum, is left-handed bat that typically bats at the top, he bowls medium pace and is a terrific fielder. Barnaby Smith is top-order batter that’s currently playing in the firsts at St Kevins and will go big if he gets in. Harish Salwathura is a right-arm leg-spinner that also bats at the top of the order. He is a promising prospect that has played under-age indoor cricket for Australia.
Squad: Arham Faooq, Charlie Hester, Ricky Hobson, Gus Kennedy, Lucas Kennedy, Albert Macgowan, Lachie O’Meara, Adita Reddycharla, Billy Reid, Harish Salwathura, Will Sharpin, Charlie Skinner, Barnaby Smith, Flynn Stewart, Jayvier Virk, Dylan Young.
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