Victorian Premier Cricket: Hot finish by Frankston Peninsula, now for the future

Frankston Peninsula finished the season with a flurry of wins on the back of a new approach. The Heat unearthed future stars and their young captain blossomed. Now the Heat are “aggressively” entering the recruiting market.

Sean van Wijk, Nick Taranto and Ryan Hammel had fine seasons for Frankston Peninsula. Picture: Valerie Campan

As Victorian Premier Cricket sides jostled for finals spots in the last month of the season, Frankston Peninsula went on a journey of self discovery.

In winning their last three matches, the Heat unlocked the key to success, unearthed future stars and watched their young captain blossom.

After going winless through 17 rounds, Jai Elcock led Frankston Peninsula to victory over Melbourne University, Kingston Hawthorn and Essendon in rounds 18, 19 and 20 respectively.

There was improvement in many areas.

“Our bowling has become a lot more disciplined and we’re sticking to a plan,” Frankston Peninsula coach Peter Marshall said.

“The captain Jai Elcock is growing in the role, the guys really support him. And I’ve just backed off a little bit and let him work things out himself. And they’ve just taken that on board.

Aidan Lenehan bowling for the Heat. Picture: Valeriu Campan

“And I think the main thing over the past two months, after we had a bad day against Northcote (in round 17), we said, ‘let’s just enjoy our cricket, let’s have a bit of fun in the way we go about playing and the results will come if we are having fun and enjoying ourselves’, and I think that’s been the difference.”

Frankston Peninsula finished in 16th spot, with a 3-12 record, and Marshall said the Heat were better than their ladder position indicates.

“We’ve posted 300 five times,’’ he said.

“We’ve made over 200 on four occasions, we’ve bowled some teams out, we’ve had teams seven for and haven’t been able to seal the deal.”

Elcock and Ryan Hammel had excellent seasons with the bat, scoring 567 and 565 runs respectively.

Nick Taranto also did well with 379 runs.

Sean van Wijk behind the stumps was a revelation, with 25 dismissals, including five catches in Frankston’s last-round win over Essendon.

Aidan Lenehan topped Frankston’s wickets, 16, despite battling niggling injuries for part of the season.

Liam Cox. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Liam Cox took 15 wickets and has really grown after being sent back to the twos mid-season.

“He has come back with renewed vigour, cleared his head and picked up a yard in pace,’’ Marshall said of Cox.

On Saturday, Frankston Peninsula shot out Essendon for 135 to record a comprehensive 89-run victory.

“Our first eight wickets were all caught behind the wicket so that tells you we are bowling in the right areas,’’ Marshall said.

Looking to the future, Frankston Peninsula has re-appointed coach Marshall and the club will look to add experience.

“We’re certainly going to be aggressive in the market place,’’ Marshall said.

“We’re looking for a couple of experienced players to carry our youngsters through so we will be aggressive there, whether it’s an experienced player who hasn’t played Premier Cricket but wants to have a crack, or someone who’s in the system that we might look to entice to come down to Frankston.

“But we’ll be careful how we approach it. We won’t just go out and spend money recklessly.’’

Van Wijk, Taranto and Hammel. Picture: Valeriu Campan

On his re-appointment, Marshall said he didn’t go into the job intending to do multiple years.

“But I’ve quite enjoyed it and I thought, ‘why not?’,’’ he said.

“I think we need a bit of solidarity. My coaching staff has been really good and we might add a person or two to the coaching staff.’’

Frankston Peninsula’s thirds have made finals and will host Camberwell Magpies at AH Butler Oval next weekend.

Lochlan Scott scored 110 in the thirds’ win over Essendon, capping a successful return from an horrific knee injury.

The thirds’ squad contains a raft of players who are 18 or under, including Cooper Remy, Alex Chandler, Jack Hay, Jack Mannix, Talal Shahzad and Dylan Gray.