Victorian Premier Cricket: Dylan Brasher, Todd Murphy, Ashley Chandrasinghe dominate Darwin cricket scene
Two Premier Cricket young guns and a quick are leading the Victorian charge in Darwin’s Premier Cricket competition. See the full list.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport . Followed categories will be added to My News.
Darwin is not like the rest of the country.
It still has a bit of the ‘frontier’ about it, a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude and earlier than usual Friday knock off, especially if you’re in the public service.
But for Victorian cricketers looking to get among the poles and the runs, it’s the perfect place for a winter raid, with the cricket season running during the southern state’s coldest months
Darwin’s premier cricket season began on April 9 and has since featured seven one-day matches and two long-form two-day matches to the end of June. There has also been a four round T20 competition.
We take a look at the fly-in fly-out Victorians have been performing well in the Top End.
Dylan Brasher
Darwin | Footscray
Two centuries has Brasher leading the competition for aggregate runs in the Top End with 446 runs at an average of 50. The opening batter is in his second straight season in the Northern Territory and flourishing, breaking his previous high score of 61 with 136 off 152 balls including 10 fours and four maximums. His big hundred came against reigning grand finalists Waratahs. Brasher has also been handy with the ball taking 11 wickets from nine matches with his handy medium pace.
Ashley Chandrasinghe
Waratahs | Casey South Melbourne
In just five matches, Victorian rookie-contracted Chandrasinghe has notched up two hundreds proving his class in the Top End where he has performed before. The left-hand opening bat now has four centuries to his name for the Waratahs. Both hundreds this season didn’t come until this June, however, where he has scored back-to-back tons, marking a stunning turnaround after beginning the season with a pair. He is averaging 52 with his 260 runs placing him 10th in the competition’s leading run scores. This is Chandrasinghe’s third consecutive season in the Top End.
Todd Murphy
Tracy Village | St Kilda
Prior to leaving the country to represent Australia A in Sri Lanka, Murphy was performing his trade for Tracy Village across five one-day games. The off-spinner took 12 wickets from five matches with best figures of 4-15 coming against the Waratahs. He was also handy with the stick scoring 156 runs at 31, highlighted by a run-a-ball 63 against PINT.
Jake Reed
Darwin | Footscray
The former Victorian and Big Bash fast bowler is back from injury and proving to be too quick for his opponents having taken 16 wickets from nine matches. His best performances have featured against Southern District who he has come up against three times. One of the matches included the one-day grand final where he took 3-59.
Reiley Mark
Tracy Village | Richmond
A six-wicket haul against Nightcliff in the first two-day match of the season highlights Mark’s season so far in the Top End. The 19-year-old off-spinner has taken 16 wickets at an average of 17 from just six matches, sitting in second position for wickets taken in the competition.
Jagadeswara Koduru
Waratahs | Northcote
The right-hander has scored 286 runs at an average of 57, featuring two half centuries from eight matches. Koduru’s two half centuries have come in back-to-back rounds in June, including an unbeaten 75 against Southern Districts. He has also been a bonus in the field highlighted by the matchwinning run-out he got in round three which left PINT 22 runs short of the total with 16 balls remaining.
Tom O‘Connell
Southern Districts | Geelong
The right arm leg spinner has taken 11 wickets from six matches which has him featuring in the top 10 for wickets taken in the competition. The state contracted spinner’s best figures were 4-42 from 10 overs in round four which featured fellow state spinner in Todd Murphy who he dismissed for 22 runs. O’Connell has also been a contributor with the bat scoring 84 runs from four innings at an average of 28. The Big Bash spinner also took 3-8 off two overs in one of the T20’s.
Xavier Crone
Southern Districts | Carlton
The fast bowler has only bowled in the two long-form games this season where he took 3-49 from 12 overs and 1-50 off 16 overs. With the stick he has contributed strongly in the middle order with an unbeaten 58 and a 49. He also smashed an unbeaten 56 off 21 balls in a T20 featuring six boundaries and four sixes. Overall he has scored 192 runs at an average of 48.
Tom Jackson
Tracy Village | Geelong
The wicketkeeper batsman performed strongly in the T20s with two unbeaten knocks of 33 and 49. He also scored an 89 in the first two-day match of the season proving to be a handy player along with the starts he got in his first few appearances for Tracy Village. He also has five catches and two stumpings to his name with the gloves.
Liam Blackford
PINT | Geelong
Blackford has been busy behind the stumps with four stumpings to his name from eight regular season matches. He has a high score of 69 opening the batting while he has shone in the T20s with an unbeaten 51 off 41 balls and a 28 in two appearances.
The Jackson brothers: Pines cricket’s first family
It was a historic day in the Mornington Peninsula Cricket Association as five brothers played together in a First XI match, although there was some early friction.
‘All the bells and whistles’: 12yo leggie earns First XI cap
A Dandenong District Cricket Association club is set to unveil one of the youngest debutants in competition history on Saturday when it throws the ball to a 12-year-old leg-spinner.