Waratah captain Isaac Conway says team looked good in the nets ahead of Round 1 grand final rematch v Palmerston at Cazalys
WARATAH captain Isaac Conway has only been back in the Top End for a week, but already he’s seen enough from the reigning Darwin Premier Grade champions at training.
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WARATAH captain Isaac Conway has only been back in the Top End for a week, but already he’s seen enough from the reigning Darwin Premier Grade champions at training.
He believes the Warriors can go back-to-back after their dominant 2020 campaign when they lost just two games.
And the Port Adelaide star carries brilliant form into the 2021 season, starting with today’s Round 1 grand-final rematch against last year’s runners-up Palmerston at Cazalys Arena.
He finished in the SACA Premier League Cricket Men’s Team of the Year, as well as picking up the CW Walker Memorial Trophy for the competition’s best wicketkeeper.
The 24-year-old scored a century and five fifties in the 2020-21 Adelaide first-grade summer. With first-class ambitions to play for Victoria and follow in the footsteps of Tahs teammate James Seymour, who fired on his Sheffield Shield debut with 60, the future is bright for Conway.
“It’s my dream to play professional cricket, and playing up here in Darwin has really helped in that regard,” he said.
“It would’ve been nice to get some more wins (with Port Adelaide) but it was good to score some runs and take some catches. I’ve only been back up here a week, but things have been looking pretty good in the pre-season. The boys are ready to go.” Waratah could be even more of a formidable opponent this year, keeping most of last year’s players, along with the additions of Austin Umpherston (Port Adelaide) and Dylan Hunter (Gordon in Sydney first grade). A top-order batsman and prolific run-scorer, Umpherston has represented SACA at Second XI level.
And Hunter is a big hitting left-hand batsman and left-arm offspinner, set to bolster an already intimidating spin line-up featuring Udara and Madura Weerasinghe.
Conway said he will not keep wickets to those Warriors stars at least for the first few weeks of the season to give his body a rest. Bright batting prospect Ashley Chandrasinghe will miss this week on Victoria Under-19 duty. “Ashley is a quality player, and he’s shown that by scoring a truckload of runs in Melbourne,” Conway said.
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MEANWHILE, Palmerston did its supporters and volunteers proud by making last year’s Darwin Premier Grade Cricket grand final with a local team minus its star imports due to the ongoing pandemic.
So with a strong foundation of junior players, there should be more good times at the Power this season, ahead of its Round 1 grand final rematch against Waratah at Cazalys Arena today.
Despite being without its star imports Christian Leopard, Jayden Lennox and Kyle Gardiner – who helped the team to a 2018 premiership win – the club has picked up four top imports from Western Suburbs in Sydney. They are Oscar Oborn-Corby, Corey McDean, and allrounders Connor Blaxall-Hill and Liam Sparke.
The team will, however, be minus star batsman Robbie Van Der Meulen and allrounder Kieran Toner, who are both having a rest this year. They are local juniors.
“Those guys have left some pretty big holes, but hopefully some of our local young players will step up. We’ve also picked up four good players from Western Suburbs,” Power captain Alex Bleakley told the NT News. “And we’ve picked up Chris Campbell from Waratah who bowls legspin.
“We’re excited to play this year. There’ll be some new challenges with Cricket365 and having imports coming back up.
“We’ve only had the one training session with all of us together, but it looked good.”
Former PINT star batsman Ben Reichstein will bolster the Darwin team for its clash against Southern Districts at Kahlin Oval, and Jacob Dickman will again be a key wicket at the Eagles this year after his time in the South Australian Redbacks squad.
Paceman Blade Baxter (pictured) and batsman Josh Neill are key returnees for PINT ahead of its clash against Tracy Village at Marrara Cricket Ground. Victorian Baxter, who has starred for St Kilda, took 23 wickets in 2018, helping his team to that year’s grand final. Coby Edmondstone took 26 wickets for Village last year. Nightcliff has the bye.
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