Victorian Premier Cricket 2024/25: Dandenong season review

There’s plenty of reason for optimism at Shepley Oval following a heartbreaking end to Dandenong’s Premier Cricket campaign. Find out why in our season review.

Premier Cricket elimination final: Dandenong v Casey South Melbourne. Dandenong Nathan Whitford. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Dandenong’s finals campaign was brought to a heartbreaking halt in the second week of the Victorian Premier Cricket finals as rain intervened.

But there is plenty of reason for optimism at Shepley Oval after a promising campaign.

The Panthers had been on the cusp of ripping through Richmond and earning an unlikely preliminary final berth after reducing the Tigers 7-85 in reply to their 6-201 declared when the match was abandoned over the weekend.

“That’s the way the weather goes and the advantage of finishing higher on the ladder, can’t really complain too much, everyone knows the rules,” reflected Dandenong coach Tom Donnell after his side’s finals elimination.

“We played some really good cricket, we had to make them play with the forecast the way it was and the guys did really well.

“Led by Brett (Forsyth) at the top I thought we played well during the day and to get seven wickets was a great result as well … it’s not easy to take wickets and build pressure in a short period of time, I was really happy with the way the guys went about it.”

Donnell was thrilled with Dandenong’s performance in the firsts this season, and noted how it was “a little bit of an unknown” how his side would perform before the season.

He said the return of James Nanopolous as well as the additions of Jawid Khan and Nathan Whitford proved crucial.

Dandenong’s Jawid Khan. Picture: Valeriu Campan.

“They were really good inclusions to be honest, they put us ahead of what I’d thought we’d be this year and played really well,” Donnell said.

“We could’ve competed with anyone on our day.”

Donnell has now spent two seasons at the helm of the Panthers, taking after a lowly 15th finish and testing 2022-23 campaign.

He said bolstering the club’s bowling stocks had been a priority since he arrived.

“One thing we needed to get on top of was our bowling, we could always go alright with our batting,” Donnell said.

“The guys that have come in have done really well, it’s been a good progression and now finishing the season the way we have it builds us up for next season to hopefully have a good season, there’s probably a little bit more expectation which makes it difficult on guys, teams are probably going to come a little bit harder at us.

Dandenong bowler Noah Hurley. Picture: Valeriu Campan.

“The trajectory’s going well to be honest, hopefully we can continue that rise, there’s a lot of young guys who are finding their way and improving, hopefully they can step it up and keep going even better.”

Shobit Singh was a revelation for Dandenong this year, surging through the 1000-run barrier with an average north of 80. It was just the eighth time since the turn of the century the 1000-run feat had been achieved in Victorian Premier Cricket.

“Incredible, I don’t think I’ve seen a better season by a batter to be honest and I’ve seen Brett have some great years year after year after year,” Donnell said.

“He dominated right from the start Shobit did, couldn’t fault him at all, he was impressive. When someone’s going so well you expect a lean patch at some stage but it just didn’t come for him.

“He did so well, backed his game in, really incredible season, probably one of the best seasons anyone’s ever had really.

“He came to us, he’d opened the batting a lot and expressed that he wanted to move into the middle order in red ball cricket, we were happy to work with him and go with that and it paid off, he got a lot of confidence back in his game and backed himself in and played really well.”

Dandenong's Shobit Singh after his century against Casey South Melbourne.

Looking ahead, the focus for Dandenong will be on retaining the list it has at its disposal with the improvement to come from within, while champion James Nanopolous is expected to play for another season.

The Panthers also opted against recruiting an overseas player in 2024/25 unlike previous seasons as part of their renewed focus on development. Donnell expects the same approach next season.

While the First XI enjoyed a competitive campaign, Dandenong’s three lower grade sides all missed the finals, with the Third XI fairing the best to finish in 11th.

“There’s improvement all the way through the grades, the thirds and fourths are so young, it’s really hard to judge, it’s all about development there,” Donnell said.

“The seconds have been a good enough team we just haven’t been able to put enough wins on the board, there’s a lot of upside and improvement in the guys that we’ve got.