Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association: Oakleigh boosts its playing stocks with three outstanding recruits
Oakleigh, one of the dominant forces in Sub-District Cricket, will be even stronger this summer after signing three outstanding recruits.
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Oakleigh’s daunting playing stocks will be boosted even further this summer with the Oaks announcing three top-shelf signings ahead of another tilt at a Sub-District Cricket premiership.
In March, the Oaks were set for a North South Group grand final showdown with Caulfield when COVID-19 swept across the sporting landscape and forced the season-decider to be cancelled.
But they’ve been quick to reset for next summer, signing former Fitzroy Doncaster top-order bat Jack Blyth as well as Plenty Valley skipper Ryan Pearson and his brother Blake.
Blyth brings a wealth of Premier Cricket experience to the Oaks having opened the batting in the Lions’ back-to-back premiership wins of 2015/16 and 2016/17.
Oakleigh skipper Brendan McGuinness said the club’s strong links with the Lions had helped get Blyth to Warrawee Park.
“It’s fantastic for us,” he said. “We’ve been a bit luckless with landing recruits.
“Oakleigh has a really strong connection with Fitzroy Doncaster through Jarrod Travaglia.
“We’d spoken to Jack last year and he was having a year off.
“He decided he really wanted to get back into cricket and he felt we were a really good fit for him. He’s only 27 later in the year, the perfect age really. He won back-to-back premierships with Fitzroy Doncaster and as a young player in that environment, that’s just huge.
“He’s a fantastic bloke and I can’t wait to get him around the club.”
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Ryan Pearson, another top-order bat and handy left-arm slow bowler, arrives at Oakleigh with impressive credentials. He has Premier Cricket experience at Kingston Hawthorn, has been named in the VSDCA team of the year and has been a premiership captain with Plenty Valley.
“I’ve played against Ryan for many years in Premier Cricket and Subbies and he’s a great leader of men,” McGuinness said. “(With less captaincy responsibility) he’ll have that ability to play with freedom.”
Blake Pearson, an explosive middle-order bat and a handy medium-pacer, makes his return to Oakleigh having captained a Hatch Shield win for the club before focusing on his football and carving out a VFL career.
“Blake is an exceptional athlete,” McGuinness said. “He played footy at Port Melbourne but is now back playing cricket. He’s a dynamic bat who can bowl a bit.
“In fact all three are handy bowlers. I don’t think I’ve ever been so flush with options.”
McGuinness said, while a couple of younger players may try their hand at Premier Cricket level next summer, the Oaks had retained the majority of their squad and the advent of the three recruits had energised the club ahead of pre-season.