Three Cats make the GCA2 first grade team of the year
Some GCA superstars picked themselves after stunning performances in the best XIIs for each division in 2024-25.
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It was an exercise a lot easier than first thought.
Trying to find the best XIIs from each GCA division after the regular season is usually fraught with danger, but a bunch of absolute superstars picked themselves after putting in simply brilliant individual campaigns in 2024-25.
In perhaps a reflection of the cream of the crop in GCA2, this masthead could only squeeze three in from Lara’s undefeated team, including a top order bat who produced three centuries on the bounce, while another has put up sensational numbers since late November, averaging close to 90.
It’s a XII suited to the dusty decks of India with three tweakers demanding to be picked, who also backed up their bowling with more than handy runs.
Meanwhile, two made the XII from a Bell Park outfit who performed admirably after being promoted from GCA3, while a couple of others vied for selection.
In third division, the XII is brimming with all-rounders and it’s a similar story in GCA4, with a bunch of players finishing in the top 10 for both batting and bowling after the regular season.
GCA2
Tristan Kassis
Torquay
Kassis opened in all bar one innings and finished the season as Torquay’s most dominant batter with 547 runs at 36.47
An extremely handy pick up for the Tigers after a lengthy career at St Bernard’s, Kassis launched into his maiden GCA season with scores of 55, 45 and 116 after four games.
Will Iles
Bell Post Hill
Churned out five half centuries for a Panthers outfit this year which finished a win outside the four.
Completed the season with three of those half tons in his last six digs at the top of the order.
Andrew Hughes
Lara
Hughes batted at first drop for the Cats all year apart from week one of the finals, and came second on the aggregate with 550 runs at 78.57 after Round 14 — sealing the GCA’s batting average award.
Hit a purple patch in November with three tons in succession.
Nikhil Deep Pottabathini
Bell Park
The Hyderabad accountant has been crunching the numbers, both on and off the field this year for the Dragons.
Batting at primarily number four, Pottabathini produced a century and seven half tons after starting his GCA2 season with consecutive globes.
Finished the year in disappointing fashion though in a losing preliminary final to the Frogs, with scores of eight and 13, but definitely made his mark in a debut GCA season.
Tom Treble
Leopold
Led the GCA batting table for most of the year before being overrun by Bell Park’s Pottabathini.
Taking on coaching duties this year at the Lions, and without Corey Ogle, Treble’s opening half of the season was sublime (542 runs at 54.2) dotted with two centuries by early January.
Will he be joined by Hayden Butterworth in 25-26?
Robert Sodomaco
Lara
Enjoyed a superb back half of the season with 426 runs at 85.2 since late November.
Hard to believe he only mustered 57 runs from his first four hits of the season.
Steered his side to victory in week one of the finals with an unbeaten 27 in a 60-run stand with Dan Weigl (33 not out), after the Cats lost 3-0 and were reduced to 4-27.
Cameron Platt
Murgheboluc
The Murgheboluc gloveman pouched 25 catches and three stumpings across all games, marginally ahead of Lara’s Jhiah Baxter.
A consistent run gatherer for the Frogs, Platt struggled to convert a multitude of starts in 24-25 during the regular season.
Made 11 double figure scores but 42 remained his best for the season, against the undefeated Lara, before breaking through with a crucial 54 in the prelim.
Fought off competition from Bell Park’s Jamie Spiller and Bell Post Hill’s Matthew Reid, with the latter extremely consistent with the bat from 10 innings.
Ash Russell
Torquay
In his club’s top two for batting and bowling for the second season in a row, and struck five half centuries and claimed three five-fors in 24-25.
However, Russell left his best to the end, taking the incredible figures of 6-37 off 40 overs to completely choke Bell Park from one end in a semi-final that was sadly washed out on the Sunday.
George Blatherwick
Lara
Comes into the grand final with 29 wickets at 15.07 with his spinners.
However, Blatherwick also scored an unbeaten 102 against Bell Post Hill alongside a bunch of scores in the 30s, producing 260 runs at 37.14 at mostly six or seven.
A more than adequate replacement for his cousin Daniel, who left the club with 29 wickets at 21.17 and a Jack Sing medal in his keeping after the 23-24 season.
Jason Grozdanovski
Murgheboluc
Probably the first player picked after snaring 48 wickets at 10.35 apiece on the cusp of another grand final.
Grozdanovski, who shared the GCA2 champion player award with Pottabathini on Monday night, and won the competition’s bowling average.
He also produced some handy runs at number six with two scores in the 60s, and 74 on Saturday in an innings which took the match away from the Dragons.
The GCA2 prelim was essentially the Jason Grozdanovski Show, a two-day extravaganza.
Byron Taylor
Geelong City
A tremendous effort considering City finished in second last place with just two wins.
Second in the bowling aggregate with 35 wickets at 19.77, quickie Taylor also chipped in with two half tons and an opening round 46 not out and 44 coming in down the list.
Ben Muir (12th man)
The Panthers skipper had a super consistent season with the rock, going wicketless in just one game and the best figures of 5-28 against Leopold.
Also chipped in with handy runs, including 50 against Murgheboluc.
Meanwhile, Mitch Trask also had a superb start to the season pre-Christmas with 18 wickets at 15.1 as the Dragons surged into finals calculations, while teammate and new recruit Brad Apps finished the season well with eight wickets at 10.3 from his final three games.
Trask took 1-5 off six overs in a losing preliminary final, part of a three-game run which was particularly economical, going well under two runs an over.
The talented Jack Driver also performed strongly for a struggling City with 515 runs at 46.82 and nine wickets.
GCA3
Seb Dew
Thomson
A worthy Jan Nowicki medallist.
Broke through with his maiden first grade ton in Round 14 and has been his club’s leading batter in 24-25.
Also chipped in with 15 wickets at 18.13 with his left arm orthodox.
Anthony Grace
Corio
The Corio opener produced one of the greatest all-round performances the GCA has ever seen with an unbeaten 179 and 8-106 in the final round against Thomson.
His performance lifted him into the division’s top two for batting and bowling (34 wickets at 14.62) after Round 14.
Ben Strachan
Corio
Led all comers for total runs in GCA3 this year, with a century and three half tons after the regular season.
With opener Anthony Grace without the big runs of last year until that barnstorming final round, Strachan played his role.
Tanner Hay
Bannockburn
Batted primarily at first drop for the Bulls this summer, but didn’t quite reach the heights of
his previous 23-24 campaign which yielded two tons.
Still hit a big century of 137 against Manifold Heights to get his season going and remained the biggest wicket for opposition attacks.
Seaver Cowley
Thomson
Another fine all-round season from the UK import who finished in eighth place on the bowling aggregate (24 wickets at 18.71) and ninth for total runs (354 at 37.3) after Round 14.
Will be planning for bulk runs in the grand final after a series of starts during the regular season.
Phil Lang
Marshall
Has opened all year for the Bears but hard to dislodge either Dew or Grace from the top two.
After crossing from St Albans Breakwater during the off-season, Lang compiled four half centuries for new club Marshall, including an important 57 in week one of the finals against Waurn Ponds Deakin.
Dodgy knees keeps Lang away from the keeping duties.
Jake Hilton (keeper)
Marshall
Hilton produced solid numbers for the Bears, with 364 runs at 33.09 heading into Saturday’s grand final, after a strong start with 265 runs at 44 from his opening six hits.
Taking 11 catches and effecting two stumpings, Hilton made 37 in a preliminary final and steered the Bears to an outright victory with an unbeaten 12 in the second innings.
Special mention to Alexander Thomson’s Oliver Mahnchke who pouched 21 catches for the season.
Dhanuja Haturusingha
Waurn Ponds Deakin
A strong all-round season with 30 wickets at 13.57 – including a bag of four in week one of the finals – and seven scores of 20 or more, including 67 against Corio, mostly batting at six, seven or eight.
Zach Mevissen
Alexander Thomson
One pole shy of a 30-wicket season, the Vikings skipper contributed some handy runs down the list, finishing the regular season averaging 25.9.
Along with scores of 48 and 55 from his last three hits of the regular season, Mevissen claimed 5-25 in a losing prelim to Marshall.
Ethan Rogers
Waurn Ponds Deakin
The new recruit overcame mid-season injury to finish third on the bowling aggregate with 26 wickets at 11.92 after the regular season, taking out GCA3’s bowling average award.
Jamieson Jervies
Bannockburn
A tremendous effort for the Bulls who finished the regular season in second last place.
A season without a five-wicket haul perhaps underlined Jervies’ consistency to finish second on the bowling aggregate after Round 14.
Matthew Pratt (12th man)
Manifold Heights
Matthew and Nick Pratt had strong seasons for Manifold Heights, with Nick taking 25 wickets at 15.08 while Matthew struck 122 against Corio early in the season plus a further two half centuries.
Also chipped in with 15 wickets at 19.53.
AT’s Bailey Forssman was also a consistent run gatherer with three half centuries and five scores of 31 or more while Brad Greenwood has taken 30 wickets for the year coming into Saturday’s grand final.
GCA4
Harli Givvens
Meredith
Quite simply the GCA4 recruit of the year with the East Ballarat product blasting 760 runs at 47.5 coming into Saturday’s grand final.
Pounded back-to-back centuries early in the season and four half tons for good measure.
Don’t forget his bowling though, with 25 wickets at 14.4.
Will he still be in GCA4 next season?
Casey Meehan
Teesdale
A sensational effort considering his team finished second last with just three wins, producing a pair of scores in the 80s and 90s.
Also chipped in with 20 wickets at 20.75.
Nicholas Fairchild
Little River
A superb season for the Redbacks all-rounder with 755 runs at 44.53 at first drop and 35 wickets at 13.91 — he was number one for both disciplines after the regular season.
Crowned GCA4’s best player on Monday night, while winning the bowling average trophy and took 22 catches.
Shane Dillon
Lethbridge
One of GCA4’s premier all-rounders, with 679 runs at 52.23 and 30 wickets at 12.93.
Dillon picked on Teesdale this season, striking two scores of 143.
Took 4-25 against Meredith last month who the Rosellas will face in Saturday’s decider.
Won GCA4’s batting average trophy on Monday night.
Eugene Stanciu
Newcomb
Opened all year bar one innings, but impossible to dislodge Givvens or Meehan at the top of the order.
With 570 runs at 38, Stanciu also claimed 20 wickets at 25.15.
Thomas Saunders
Lethbridge
Fourth on the batting aggregate with 632 runs 42.13, Saunders was a model of consistency, hitting double figures in all but one of his 17 innings.
Hit seriously good form mid-season, with three scores in the 80s and a 51 from six digs.
Also took 20 wickets at 17.05.
Brad Jones (keeper)
Newcomb & District
Batted at first drop in all but one innings but slots down into seven in the keeping position.
Jones was third on the club’s batting aggregate, and 10th overall after week one of the finals, producing four half centuries.
Took 14 catches for the season.
Sam Giles
Lethbridge
Another key part of the Rosellas armoury, Giles hit 345 runs at 26.54 with two half centuries, batting anywhere from the opening position to number nine.
Also took 24 wickets at 19.04.
Jack Giles
Lethbridge
Fourth on the bowling aggregate with 30 wickets at 12.07.
However, Giles, who has batted once since mid-January, has struck scores of 67 against Guild St Mary’s during early season form which produced scores of 29 not out, 33 and an undefeated 16.
Luke Wright
Little River
Finished his season in the number one slot for bowling with 37 wickets at 15.3.
A super consistent Wright only went wicketless in one of his 18 games.
Chesney Milne
Meredith
After week one of the finals, Milne had taken a one-wicket lead over Fairchild on the bowling aggregate, and heads into a grand final with 36 wickets at 13.42.
Produced his best spell against Lethbridge of 6-27 off nine overs over a golden three-game run which netted 13 wickets at 6.4.
Tyler Dittloff (12th man)
Meredith
Dittloff scored 521 runs at 37.21 in 24-25 and took 12 wickets at 15.75, fighting off tough opposition for the position from Anthony Quarrell, who returned to the Dinos from Grovedale.
Quarrell spent the great majority of his season as an opener and was reliable, with an unbeaten, neat 100 against St Albans Breakwater plus 16 wickets at 19.69.
However, Dittloff has also produced while skippering the Rams.
Originally published as Three Cats make the GCA2 first grade team of the year
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