Everything you need to know ahead of the men’s 2024-25 CTPL season
The CTPL men’s first grade season will kick off this weekend. We’ve talked to every coach and have the low down on every club heading into the first game. See the full season preview.
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The Cricket Tasmania Premier League men’s first grade season will kick off this weekend with one-day action across both Saturday and Sunday.
Ahead of the opening round, we’ve spoken to every coach about the off-season movements, the players they are excited to watch and their goals for the year.
Here’s a team-by-team preview.
CLARENCE
Coach: Harry Allanby
Captain: Michael Jones
Ins: Matt Kuhnemann (Queensland/Gold Coast Dolphins)
Outs: Nil
Pre-season star: Connor O’Brien
Young players to watch: Blake Garrett and Ryan Borsboom
Big year for: Caiden Workman and Tom Murrell
Coach’s Comment: Last season saw a big improvement for our developing squad. We will be looking to take a couple of extra steps this year and push for some silverware.
GLENORCHY
Coach: Josh Hartill
Captain: Josh Hartill
Ins: Nikhil Chaudhary (Queensland), Mohammed Rizvi (University), Nick Potts (Derbyshire/England), Dylan Hunter (Sydney University)
Outs: Braden Taeuber (Dandenong) Alex Wynwood (Ulverstone), Nick Davis (North Hobart) Sanjay Anandarajah (North Hobart)
Pre-season star: Brandon Kopper
Young players to watch: Brandon Kopper and Kane Lovell
Big year for: Brandon Kopper – After a breakout season last summer, Kopper is expected to take things to another level. Took 29 wickets to finish inside the competition’s top 20 and has put together a stellar pre-season in a bid to improve even further in 2024-25.
Coach’s Comment: Building on the improved results from the 2023-24 season, we have recruited well during the off season. Our new recruits are able to play all formats well and are three dimensional players. Combined with the natural development from within our young emerging local talent, we have a well-balanced squad who will be more consistent. We are confident that with the players we have retained and recruited we will be contending for finals in all formats during the 2024/25 season
GREATER NORTHERN RAIDERS
Coach: Alistair Taylor
Captains: Alistair Taylor and Aidan O’Connor (T20)
Ins: Michael Lukic (Westbury), Jack Crane (South Launceston), Oliver Knowles (South Launceston), Michael Knowles (South Launceston)
Outs: Daniel Murfett (Westbury), Miles Barnard (retired)
Pre-season star: Lachie Clark – Clark is regarded as one of the best fast bowling prospects in the state. The 19-year-old took a bundle of wickets playing around half of the Raiders games last season, and was rewarded with opportunities with the Tasmanian second XI.
Young players to watch: Jack Crane and Ethan Clark – 17 year-old Crane is an aggressive spinner, and will have experienced recruit and fellow ‘offie’ Michael Lukic to learn from while Clark is a tall left handed batter and will get some chances at the top of the order following the retirement of Miles Barnard, Daniel Murfett’s decision to focus solely on Westbury, and the injured Charlie Eastoe will be unavailable until after Christmas.
Big year for: Tom Dwyer – The 17 year-old opening batter will also get more chances with Barnard and Eastoe missing. He’s been one of the standouts through pre-season and is confident he can take his game to another level.
Coach’s Comment: The Raiders narrowly missed finals in fifth position last year, and are hoping to add to their maiden finals campaign in 2020-21. We’re looking forward to continuing on from our second half of last year. We had a really good run in the back end so we want to bring that straight away this season. We’ve had a big focus on our one day cricket, it’s something we identified we needed to get better at. We’ve come up with a real simple game plan, hopefully we can make finals and we’re just looking for improvement.
KINGBOROUGH
Coach: Tom Martyn
Captain: Dylan Hay
Ins: Zak Honeybrook (Queensland)
Outs: Jake Vincent (Ulverstone), Kevin Chapman (Queensland), Hamish Ayliffe (North Hobart)
Pre-season star: Dylan Hay – Hay has been superb with both his leadership and training. By not playing footy this winter has allowed him to get a lot of cricket specific and gym training in for the first time in a long time. We expect this will correlate in a very strong season for Dylan.
Young players to watch: James Scott and Zac Curtain – Two members of our two day and one day premierships last season have had a great pre-seasons within Cricket Tasmania’s programs. Both went away on the Tigers pre-season trip to Darwin and Zac is away in India with the Australian U19s side. These experiences we expect will fill both these guys with confidence and drive us forward as a club/side.
Big year for: Cam Walter – Walter has had an outstanding 12 months of sport playing in back to back premierships with Cygnet in the SFL and our CTPL premierships last season. His leadership and ownership of the group has grown off the back of this, and after some really strong performances for us at the back end of last season we believe Cam is in for a big 2024/25 season.
Coach’s Comment: Off the back of an outstanding season, we are under no illusions as a club we need to strive for continued improvement to further solidify and enhance our position from last season. We have a very young playing list across the grades so we will continue to drive a positive growth mindset and provide opportunities for our players to excel in our environment. We are really excited to for season 2024/24 and ultimately want to strive towards top 4 positions in all grades as we know what opportunities can present if we are to make it.
LINDISFARNE
Coach: Matt Wilkie
Captain: Keegan Oates
Ins: Sebastian Brown (University), Sam Belford (Queensland), James Beattie (Greater Northern Raiders), Zarif Rahman (University)
Outs: Will Sanders (Queensland)
Pre-season star: Tom McGann – McGann has looked very good and is developing into one of the leaders at Lindisfarne.
Young players to watch: Luke Quinlan and Joe McGann – Both players are improving rapidly with both bat and ball and will be very exciting to watch them compete at first grade level.
Big year for: Keegan Oates – Oates is now a natural leader and really knows his game.
Coach’s Comment: We have a very young, but talented group this season so building for the future is the main goal. Our best cricket will no doubt take it up to the best teams, but ultimately looking for improvement this year, individually as players and as a group.
NEW TOWN
Coach: Peter Di Venuto
Captain: Joe Randall
Ins: Charlie Griffith (Penrith), Tafara Mupariwa (Zimbabwe)
Outs: Anthony Mosca (Campbelltown-Camden)
Pre-season star: Joe Randall
Young players to watch: Caelan Maladay and Jack Montgomery – two young stars who are expected to lead the bowling attack.
Big year for: Caelan Maladay and Jack Montgomery – both great back up options for Tasmania on the bowling front, should be in around the squad in the future. They are great prospects with a terrific work ethic and attitude.
Coach’s Comments: We will be competitive in all grades. We have built a club over a few years now that can compete well. There is a really good combination of players from our pathway and others externally who’ve joined us. There’s a great commitment among the whole playing group towards owning how they train, play and challenge one another. It’s enjoyable to see the growth of the players over the past few seasons.
NORTH HOBART
Coach: Richard Cowlard
Captain: Jack White
Ins: Nicholas Davis (Glenorchy), Rafael Macmillan (St George District Cricket Club/NSW), Hamish Ayliffe (Kingborough), Sanjay Anandarajah (Glenorchy)
Outs: Alex Pyecroft (UK), Ben Fraser (UK)
Pre-season star: Kade Applebee – Applebee has had an impressive pre-season, showing great commitment and focus to his training. Working through some new technical changes and approaches have helped him refine his skills further and put him in a strong position for the season ahead.
Young players to watch: Rafael Macmillian and Nicholas Davis – Macmillan has already proven his matchwinning capabilities with both bat and ball at the Under-19 World Cup and for his club in NSW. His ability to adapt to different playing conditions will be crucial as he transitions to Tasmanian pitches, where his skill set should allow him to thrive and make a big impact this season.
Davis is an exceptionally talented all-rounder who is steadily establishing himself as a future star of Tasmanian cricket. Last season, he showcased his ability to deliver big hundreds, demonstrating a level of consistency and maturity beyond his years. With the ball, he has proven to be more than just a support option, offering crucial breakthroughs at key moments. His versatility and matchwinning potential make him an invaluable asset for North Hobart. If he can maintain his fitness and stay injury-free, Nicholas is poised to be a dominant force this season, playing a major role in driving the team towards success.
Big year for: Aidan Bariol – Bariol has already proven himself as one of the most reliable batter/keepers in the CTPL. Spending the winter in the UK, he scored several hundreds, which has likely helped him grow as a player. With this experience, Aidan is well-prepared for a strong season in Tasmania and will be looking to continue his good form.
Coach’s Comment: We’ve had a relatively low-key pre-season, as several of our senior players have been honing their skills in the UK. Those who have remained have shown great dedication, working hard on their fitness and technique to ensure they’re ready for the season ahead. Although we’ve lost some experienced players, our recruiting team has been proactive in bringing in promising young talent, which has added depth and energy to the squad. There’s a positive atmosphere around the club, with a sense of excitement about the opportunities this season presents. Our younger players are eager to make their mark, and the senior players are ready to lead by example. As always, our expectation is to play finals cricket, and we believe this group has the potential to achieve that goal. It’s about everyone stepping up, supporting each other, and making the most of every opportunity that comes our way.
SOUTH HOBART-SANDY BAY
Coach: Richard Allanby
Captain: Gabe Bell
Ins: Will Prestwidge (Queensland), Charlie Fish (Injury), Max Denehey (Perth)
Outs: Nil
Pre-season stars: Ed Gulline, Jordy Cooper and Charlie Fish – All three are hoped to further their development from a fast bowling point of view and have had great pre seasons.
Young players to watch: Sam Voss, Cooper Stubbs and Harry Thompson
Big year for: Tom Willoughby and Caedence Kuepper – Both are now the leaders in the team with both bat and ball and will need to have solid seasons.
Coach’s Comments: We are a young team but one with great belief. We are looking to build on our 23-24 season and give opportunities to young players across the season in first grade.
UNIVERSITY
Coach: Ben Hilfenhaus
Captain: Param Uppal
Ins: Nil
Outs: Tim Oakley (not returning this season from South Australia)
Pre-season star: Louis Smith
Young players to watch: Charlie Hill, Joe Groom, Mason Wright
Big year for: Tom Chapman – Chapman made his maiden century late last season and has had a productive pre-season. Anticipating him to play an important role at the top of the order with his positive stroke play.
Coach’s Comment: A majority of our senior group has spent the off-season abroad playing various levels of cricket. This holds them in good stead to hit the ground running in the early rounds of the season compared to others, with the limited outdoor opportunities thus far for many of the clubs pre-season training sessions. In addition, the absence of these players resulted in smaller pre-season number than usual allowing greater session time for our core and younger players to develop/improve their skills.
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