Waratah out to win four premierships in a row in women’s senior cricket in 2023
Waratah will be out to claim even more silverware while last year’s cellar dwellers have put in a strong off-season indoors as Darwin women’s cricket returns.
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Waratah’s women are shooting for four premierships in a row as Darwin cricket returns on April 21.
The Tahs smashed Tracy Village in the decider last season by 10 wickets, while getting the better of Southern Districts two years on the bounce.
Waratah’s Lauren Gooden was also recognised as the best player in the competition in 2022, the exclamation point on years of success down at Gardens Oval.
However, Tahs captain Melissa Campbell said her side would have a different look this campaign after a few list changes during the off-season.
“We’re going for four in a row this year, not sure how we will go, we got a lot of new faces in the team, a few people moved away and a few people (moved) to Darwin,” Campbell said.
“At the moment we’re just trying to put some competitive cricket out and see how we go.”
Campbell, who made an unbeaten 66 off just 43 balls in last year’s decider at Marrara, said her team’s success was down to practice and support.
“Training hard and we have had some good talent over the years and just nurturing our younger players as they come through the club as well,” she said.
All seven Premier clubs will field a team in the 16-round, Friday night T20 competition.
Meanwhile, PINT captain Jo Ferguson said her side kept busy over the wet in preparation for their second campaign in Darwin women’s cricket, after finishing last in 2022.
“We have played indoor during the off-season to keep our skills up and have a bit of fun with the girls,” Ferguson said.
“And we have been training twice a week since indoor finished so we’re excited to get going.”
PINT enjoyed its first win in Round 6 last season, a five wicket victory over Tracy Village.
Darwin comedian Amy Hetherington top scored for PINT with 12 runs off 11 balls that match, as her team chased down Tracy’s 118 all out.
Ferguson said development and building friendships would be the focus this season with a number of players still learning the game.
“We are just out to have fun, just to keep improving our skills and to have a good time,” she said.
“Get to know some of the local ladies and hopefully get some younger girls up through the ranks.”
In Round 1 action, Tracy Village takes on Darwin at Nightcliff Oval, Southern Districts plays PINT at Cazalys Arena and Palmerston meets Waratah at Gardens Oval.
All the ins and outs before Round 1 of Darwin Premier cricket
The two strongest teams of Darwin cricket last season will have a vastly different look in 2023.
Darwin Premier returns on April 15 with reigning champs Southern Districts out to claim a historic threepeat in the two-day tournament and defend their 50-over title, after getting the better of Darwin in both encounters in 2022.
The Crocs will be almost unrecognisable with former captain Matt Hammond joining the Eagles, Dean Fry moving to Queensland and flag-winning imports Sam Kerber, Corey Kelly and Xavier Crone, plus Tom O’Connell, not returning in 2023.
However, Josh Kann and Tom Jackson will move from Tracy Village to the Crocs to fill the void, while Jackson Isakka returns.
Both Kann and Isakka won the Weise Medal in 2021.
Meanwhile, the Eagles will also lose some quality from their A Grade squad, including last season’s coach Jake Reed, joint Ralph Weise medallist Dylan Brasher, wicket keeper Dhruv Kant and spinner Shehan Sinnetamby.
Hammond and Kann are not the only players switching clubs with hard-hitting southpaw Connor Carroll jumping from Palmerston to Nightcliff, while Geelong quick Harry Massey and Brisbane Heat spinner Jack Wood heading to Gardens Oval after playing with PINT in 2022.
However, Palmerston have sourced plenty of players from Tasmanian grade team Lindisfarne, including Hobart Hurricanes all-rounder Jarrod Freeman.
His offspinners should complement captain Hamish Martin, who took 40 wickets in Premier in 2022.
HOW THE SQUADS ARE SHAPING UP FOR SEASON 2023
Southern Districts
Last season: Premiers
Coach: Tony Judd
Captain: Tim Garner
Ins: Josh Kann (Tracy Village), Tom Jackson (Tracy Village), Jackson Isakka (returning player), Reiley Mark (Tracy Village).
Out: Matt Hammond (Darwin), Dean Fry (Queensland), Xavier Crone, Tom O’Connell, Sam Kerber, Corey Kelly.
Capain’s comments:
“It’s been a good pre-season apart from the weather, we’ve had a lot of blokes down at training and everyone is training hard.
“The culture around the club has always been great and we know we have the depth with blokes ready to step in if anyone gets injured.
“We’ve got two guys, Josh Kann and Jackson Isakka, coming in who won the Ralph Wiese Medal and there’s also some good young guys coming in, so plenty to look forward to.”
Darwin
Last season: Second
Coach: Kym Lawrence.
Captain: Matt Hammond
Ins: Matt Hammond (Southern Districts), Blake Coburn (Canterbury, NZ), Angus Sidey (Canterbury), Dan Kerber (Adelaide University).
Out: Jake Reed, Dhruv Kant, Dylan Brasher, Shehan Sinnetamby, Harry Fitzpatrick.
Retaining: Anthony Adlam, Matt Calder.
Captain’s comments:
“It’s a very loving environment that I’ve walked into, the club is full of love and they all support what I’m doing so hopefully I can make the switch easily.
“Darwin has always had a great team and they have a great bunch of locals who support the people who come up and play.
“We’re always very hopeful of what we can achieve and hopefully we can go one step further this year and win the flag.
“Reedy from last year is a big out, but we will fill that with our local talent and we will have Tom Menzies stepping up and taking over the role of bowling those long overs.”
Waratah
Last year: Third
Coach: Udara Weerasinghe
Captain: Isaac Conway
Ins: Ryan Hackney (NSW), Samindra Madushan (West Cricket Club), Harry Massey (PINT, Port Adelaide, Geelong), Jack Wood (PINT, Brisbane Heat, Queensland 2nd XI).
Outs: Roby Lane, Dylan Hunter, Ryan Handtke, Caiden Eaton, Austin Umpherston.
Possibly retaining: Ash Chandrasinghe.
Coach’s comments:
“It’s not easy to flick the switch after losing some guys who have been with us the past three years, but we are getting new guys in their place.
“I don’t think it’s going to be an issue, but it will be a challenge to help them find their role as part of our club, which has been very competitive and had consistency the past three years.
“Preparations have been good so far, we’ve got more locals in the side this year and a major focus during pre-season has been on fitness and just those areas we were lacking in last year.”
Nightcliff
Last year: Fourth
Coach: Mick Hancock
Captain: Michael Kudra
Ins: Connor Carroll (Palmerston), James Doherty (Footscray),
Outs: Param Uppal, Blake Macdonald, Braden Taeuber, Yuvraj Sharma.
Retaining: Josh Brown, Raveesh Srivastava, Caelan Maladay.
Capatin’s comments:
“I’m excited to take on the captain role, it’s a good way for me to give back to the club and also progress my game.
“I’m looking at getting a bit more involved off the field too, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes which people don’t realise, so I think it’s good to learn that side of the game.
“We’ve had good numbers, the imports are starting to rock up while a lot of the younger guys are really improving picking up some pace and putting on size.
“All the returning guys such as Josh Brown and Caelan Maladay have been big for us in recent years and it’s good to have them back.
“And we also have Connor Carroll coming over from Palmerston, he smacked 100 against us last season so if he can play his role we can be pretty competitive too.”
Palmerston:
Last year: Fifth
Manager: David Cluse
Captain: Hamish Martin
Ins: Jarrod Freeman (Tasmania, Hobart Hurricanes, Lindisfarne), Jack Freeman (Lindisfarne), Tom McGann (Lindisfarne), Keegan Oates (Lindisfarne), Josh Baraba (Fairfield-Liverpool NSW).
Outs: Connor Carroll (Nightcliff), Corey McDean, Connor Blaxall-Hill, Awad Naqvi.
Captain’s comments:
“Preparations have been a little scattered, the weather hasn’t helped us much, but I think everyone is in the same position.
“We’ve got a good core group which we’ve had the past few years, as a club we’ve created an environment where people come back, and we have some talented imports coming as well.
“Jarrod Freeman, on the Tasmanian list, won’t be around the first couple of rounds, but then he will be here the rest of the year, so we’ve got five good blokes committed to the whole six months.
“Consistency has been our downfall the past couple of years, when we’re hot we’re hot but when we’re not we’re not, but having that strong core group should put us in good stead.”
Tracy Village
Last year: Sixth
Captain/coach: Max Hatzoglou (Melbourne University)
Ins: Vincent Huf (Geelong), Prajay Paramesh (Kingston-Hawthorn), Sanjay Anandarajah, Sam Elder (Waratah).
Outs: Josh Kann (Southern Districts), Tom Jackson (Southern Districts), Josh Hoffman (Waratah), Todd Murphy.
“We’re tracking really well, we’ve had strong numbers at training, a few new faces and a lot of young players who are keen to have a good season.
“Those young players are going to get better and better and we’re backing them to fill the void of the players we have lost.
“I’m quite confident we’ve got a team that’s really connected, wants to play for Tracy Village and is going to put together some good performances.”
PINT
Last year: Seventh
Coach: David King
Captain: Coby Edmondstone
Ins: Mitch Doolan (Northern Suburbs NSW), Farzan Chowna (Essendon, Under 19 Vic Metro), Jet Liebke (Northern Suburbs QLD), Matthew Varner (Ulverstone Tasmania), Bailey Coleman (Queensland).
Outs: Jack Wood (Waratah), Harry Massey (Waratah), Prajay Paramesh (Tracy Village), Lachlan Roughley, Kavvy Saini, Nathan Lester, Nick Winter.
Retaining: Dhanusha Gamage, Zenith Wicky, Ushchitha Rajith, Patrick Gallow, Ajay Emmanuel.
Coach’s comments:
“PINT is a special club, and I feel privileged to be a part of it.
“I can’t wait to get started, and to work with the players to help them achieve their full potential.
“We have a talented group of players here, and I believe we can do great things together.”
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