Sport
17 October, 2023
Revamped Horsham Cricket Association gets underway
The 2023/2024 Horsham Cricket Association season gets underway on Saturday in a revamped format. There are now eight teams in A Grade compared to the five from last year. Rup/Minyip move down to B Grade and joining the Homers, Bullants, Jung Tigers...
The 2023/2024 Horsham Cricket Association season gets underway on Saturday in a revamped format.
There are now eight teams in A Grade compared to the five from last year.
Rup/Minyip move down to B Grade and joining the Homers, Bullants, Jung Tigers and West Wimmera Warriors in the A Grade are Blackheath Dimboola, Horsham Saints, Laharum and Lubeck-Murtoa all from Divison B. Laharum and the Saints were last year's winners in two day and one day respectively.
B Grade teams are: Panthers, Bullants, Quantong, Homers, Tigers, West Wimmera and Colts.
C Grade teams are: Laharum, Tigers, Lubeck-Murtoa, Saints, Blackheath Dimboola, Homers, Colts and Natimuk
The first round of the season is a one day match.
Reigning premiers from the A Grade last year in both one and two day, the Bullants, are hosting the Homers at the Noradjuha Recreation Reserve.
Club President and middle order batsman, Garrett Liston said they are looking forward to the season.
"We are pretty excited for the season ahead. We have lost a couple of guys, particularly Tony Caccaviello but apart from that we are pretty similar," Liston said.
"We have a few injuries but we are hopeful we will be competitive early and then bring it home in the second half when we are a lot stronger."
"We have a couple of young guys coming through in Nathan Hughes and Riley Lane so it will be interesting to see how they tackle the A-Grade. Hopefully they can jag a few wickets as medium pace bowlers," he explained.
Matthew Combe is arguably their best player scoring 323 runs at an average of 46.1 whilst taking 30 wickets at an average of 10.4 last year and he will look to better that this year.
Opening pair Justin Combe and Shane Oakley will also be important after having great seasons last year.
The Homers are missing a couple of players from last year and will rely on the youth this season.
All-rounder Mark Mbofana has left and after scoring 103 runs and taking 8 wickets in 7 matches he will be a loss. Fellow all-rounder Simon Hopper will also miss the first part of the season. Last year he scored 146 runs and took 11 wickets in 7 matches.
Youngster's Monty Wynn, Hugh Dougherty and Phoenix Hopper have all tasted some A Grade action last year and will play more this year.
Opening Batsman Patty Mills is going to be very important after scoring 228 runs at an average of 28.5 in 8 matches last season. Bowler Baxter Perry claimed 13 wickets at an average of 17.2 last year and will again be one of the leaders in the bowling attack.
Homer's captain and wicket-keeper, Adam Atwood said patience is the key this year.
"With a lot of youth in the team, we are going to be inconsistent at times. We will have really good days or bad days and hopefully we have more good than bad," Atwood said.
The Horsham Saints were premiers in B Grade last year and kick off their season against last year's A Grade runner-up, West Wimmera Warriors at Nhill.
They have a big loss this year in Aidan Laffy, whom has gone to University in Ballarat. Last year he took 26 wickets at an average of 7.7.
Jono Carroll and Brock Hamerston are the two main bowlers for the Saints. Last year Carroll took 22 wickets at an average of 9.8 and Hamerston 16 wickets at 16.9.
Club President Ben Sawyer says they have a similar team and is confident.
"Gary Davidson is our captain and he has been the best batsman in the league for the last 10-15 years so his experience is going to be vital," Sawyer said.
"Dezi Carter is probably our brightest young player as well as wicket keeper Tom Sostheim. Those are the two players we will look to build the club around."
Lubeck Murtoa open their season against Blackheath Dimboola at the Murtoa Recreation Reserve. After finishing runner up in B Grade last year are confident they can match it in A Grade. They have a new pitch that should be up and running by round three.
Club Secretary, Philip Yew said they have a young developing team 'brimming with talent.'
"We are looking to continue the development of this side this year and hopefully play finals with a talented team," Yew said.
Yew said the Club's other focus this year is to create a good culture on and off the field.
"We want to develop something where the community and young people can go to play cricket and enjoy each others company," he explained.
The bowling contingent of Blake Turner, Nic Ballagh and Shannon Reddie will be vital and Yew said they will form the nucleus of the attack.
"We are looking for Shannon to have a fantastic year. He will open the bowling with Blake Turner who we missed from the finals. He is back on deck all year and will add depth to our bowling and batting," he said.
"Nick Ballagh will unfortunately miss the first couple of matches with injury but when he comes back he is going to be very important. Nick took 14 wickets in a game last year and if all three are on deck at the same time, we are going to be very dangerous."
Blackheath Dimboola will hope their fortunes change after having the most washed out games last season.
Captain and opening batsman Samuel Leith said they have a similar team and are confident they will go far this season.
"It's a pretty similar side to last year. Archer Laverty, a good and up coming bowler, broke his wrist playing football and is going to miss a good chunk of the season. We are hoping to get him back later in the season," Leith said.
When asked what players to look out for he mentioned Daniel Polack and Elliot Braithwaite. Polack hit three half centuries last year in 8 matches with a high score of 75 averaging 31.9. In 7 matches, Braithwaite took 11 wickets at an average of 12.7 and strike rate of 29.5.
"Dan has come along as a batter the last couple of years and I think he will go a bit better this year and convert those 50's to 100's," he said.
"Elliot is another to look out for. As a bowler he doesn't look like he can bowl fast but he can. If he gets hit for a boundary he usually responds and finds another 10-20km's and he can be dangerous for us this year."
At the Laharum Sports and Community Centre, Laharum will host the Horsham Tigers. Laharum are the defending two day champions in B Grade from last year and are confident they can match it in A Grade.
Laharum opening bowler and vice captain Josh Mohoney said the team is pretty similar to last year.
"We lost one of our veterans in Damien Bunworth. He was our leading run scorer in the history of the club. We also picked up Joel Pymer from Jung. He will be a handy bowler for us," Mohoney said.
"Daniel Griffiths is our captain and stepping back into A grade, he was one of our best batters there so he will relish the extra pace on the ball."
The other bowlers alongside Mohoney whom will be important are Patrick Smith, Joel Pymer, Jackson Hoffmann and the off spin of Max Bunworth.
The Tigers have a similar team to last year. They have lost Brett Jensz to West Wimmera but they have gained Dom Rose, an all-rounder.
Tigers captain Tyler Puls is excited about Rose.
"He is new to town but he is a very good player. He is going to be a good addition to our bowling lineup," Puls said.
Angus Adams will be vital again this year for the Tigers. Last year he scored 174 runs at an average of 21 and took 18 wickets with also an average of 21.
"Angus is reliable and you know what you get out of him. He is consistent."
"Hopefully we also get a few more games out of Levi Mock, and Aaron Leith with the bat should have a good season," Puls concluded.