VSDCA Champion Craig Sheedy crosses from Williamstown to VTCA club Aberfeldie

VETERAN all-rounder Craig Sheedy has put pen to paper with Turf Cricket outfit Aberfeldie in a massive boost to the club’s hopes of securing a berth in Senior Division.

Craig Sheedy sends one down in the Sub-District Cricket grand final against Kew. Picture: Hamish Blair

VETERAN all-rounder Craig Sheedy has put pen to paper with Turf Cricket outfit Aberfeldie in a massive boost to the club’s hopes of securing a berth in Senior Division.

Sheedy has been one of the leading performers in Sub-District Cricket for more than a decade at Williamstown and also enjoyed distinguished stints with Premier Cricket clubs Essendon and Carlton.

Sheedy made the decision to retire at the age of 40 after 2014-15, but the break only lasted one season.

He returned 401 runs and 31 wickets in an outstanding summer in 2017-18 as the Seagulls claimed the premiership and is set to cause plenty of headaches for opposition sides in North West Division.

“We’ve been lacking a bit of experience in big games and finals — that’s where we’ve sort of fallen over in the last few years — so we identified guys who would provide us with a bit more leadership in those big games to try and get us over the line,” said Abers captain-coach Keiren Gray, who played with Sheedy at Carlton.

“He’s come off a club champion at Williamstown and their bowling average, so he’s still obviously performing.

“Because we’ve lost a couple of guys, we had a couple of openings left, so I gave him a call.

“He was open for a chat and it worked out.”

Opening bowler Gavin McCallum, who last played for the club two years ago, has also returned.

Imports Sameera Vishwaranga, Sarmad Anwar and Ravindra Karunaratne are set to depart.

Abers finished in fifth spot last season, missing a top-four spot by 0.27 points.

“We’ve been around the mark the last couple of years, losing a semi-final two years ago and missing out (on finals) by 20 or 30 runs last year,” Gray said.

“We know our best is up there, we’ve just got to make sure we perform at the right time of the year.”