The opening round of the Grassmere Cricket Association begins on Saturday and today we preview the season ahead.
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HAWKESDALE
2017-18 finish: Premier
Ins: Brady Purcell (Panmure)
Outs: Ben Julius (Killarney)
Captain’s comment: “We haven’t had the chance to train a lot but hopefully we can build up as the season goes on. We aren’t feeling any pressure from being reigning premiers, we’ll just go out and play like we normally do.” – Lachie Glare
KILLARNEY
2017-18 finish: Runner-up
Ins: Anthony Martin (East Warrnambool), Ben Julius (Hawkesdale), Ben Hadden (Woolsthorpe)
Outs: Liam Cole (Retirement)
Captain’s comment: “We are going into the season with winning a premiership as our goal, I think every team would be chasing that. We are pretty happy with our group, we have 10 blokes 27 and under who have played a lot of cricket. The three blokes we have brought in are all good players. Our bowling will be strong again and we will have a lot of depth in our batting. The two-day games really suit us, having a fit, younger team puts you in a good position on those long days.” – Brayden Buchanan
PANMURE
2017-18 finish: Third
Ins: Andrew Bridge (Woolsthorpe), Paul Rea (out of retirement), David Patterson (South Australia)
Outs: Ben Dobson (Wesley CBC), Brady Purcell (Hawkesdale)
Captain’s comment: “We have let ourselves down a bit in semi-finals the last few years which we don’t normally do. Our bowling has been good but our batting has fallen short, we need to regularly have one of our top four making a 70 or 80 that we can build a big score around. We have some good juniors coming through and our B grade team won the grand final last year so there are a lot of positives. A lot of the players are farmers so they are pretty busy, but once they get out there on a Saturday, everyone loves playing together.” – Paddy Mahony
WOOLSTHORPE
2017-18 finish: Fourth
Ins: Paul Huddart, Mitchell Gristede (returning), Kyle Patterson, Patrick Drake (Allansford), Matthew Bartlett (Killarney)
Outs: Andrew Bridge (Panmure), Ben Hadden (Killarney)
Coach’s comment: “It would be great to have both our A and B grade teams make the finals, that’s certainly an aim. I think we have recruited the right guys to help us do that. We are certainly better placed at this time than we were last year.” – Jason Alberts.
PURNIM
2017-18 finish: Fifth
Ins: Ben Howarth (Ecklin), Aidan Bosse (West Warrnambool)
Outs: Nil
Captain’s comment: “The fact Purnim finished just out of the finals last year certainly means we will be keen to take a step up this season. Being new to the club I am just finding my way at the moment but I have been impressed with what I have seen at training. We have some guys that are handy with bat and ball so I think we will be pretty strong in both areas.” – Ben Howarth
GRASSMERE
2017-18 finish: Sixth
Ins: Adam Ryan (Allansford), Jackson Fary (Queensland), Brad Bushell (Russells Creek), Paul Ryan, Glenn Kampman (returning)
Outs: Nil
Captain’s comment: “There is a really good feel around the club, getting a few recruits in and not losing any players. For the first time in a few years we have a B grade team which will really help with the depth of our A grade side. We started training at the beginning of September and numbers have been good. We struggled a bit with two-day cricket last year but I think we have learnt a lot from that and we should see a big improvement, particularly with our batting.” – Justin Coates
WANGOOM
2017-18 finish: Seventh
Ins: Jeremy Cook (Russells Creek), Gus Pomorin (Apollo Bay), Paul Kinnear (Allansford)
Outs: Jethro Serle (Portland), Corey McKenzie (Yambuk)
Captain’s comment: “We are hoping to have an impact, it has been a bit of an interrupted pre-season but there is some good energy around the club at the moment. We will have a strong focus on all areas and I think playing the two-dayers will allow us to really concentrate on our batting and spend some time in the middle and find form.” – Lachie Morrison.
YAMBUK
2017-18 finish: Eighth
Ins: Christo Rook (Portland), Xavier McCartney (Port Fairy), Corey McKenzie (Wangoom), Ben Graesser (Terang)
Outs: Stephen Watty (Port Fairy)
Coach’s comment: “We have been able to bring in some more mature players who are in that really good age group, that mid 20s to 30. They will compliment the young blokes we already have at the club. Last year our experienced blokes were closer to 50. We have a B grade team back this year so those blokes can go back and play there which will be a real positive for the club. We have a focus on enjoying our cricket this year, really taking on that fun in the contest.” – Steven Gleeson
MAILORS FLAT
2017-18 finish: Ninth
Ins: Lachlan Boyle, Matthew Boyle, Daniel Boyle (Boorcan), Damien Jones, Cristian Jones, Nick Walker (returning), Mark Hammond, Nathan Carter (Dennington), Uday Kethireddy (India), Ashira Meegoda, Bishan Karunarathna (Sri Lanka), Chris Woodbridge (East Warrnambool),
Outs: Nil
Captain’s comment: “With the players we have been able to bring in we are definitely aiming to push towards finals. Our batting is a real strength, we bat right down to number 11. I could switch my number one and number nine around in the order if I had to without affecting our balance. Our bowling will also be very good. Chris Woodbridge and Noah Boyle will open the bowling. Being able to bring in two opening bowlers is certainly a plus for us.” – Lachlan Boyle