MARCUS: Well boys, it’s great to be back as a whole team in 2024 for LTS. It feels like putting on a second pair of jeans for me, sitting around and gas-bagging with you guys for 20 minutes on a Monday morning. We’re going to begin with everyone’s favourite LTS opening segment, best action. Jonty, take it away.
JONTY: I’ll keep it to one piece of action, will I?
DAVE: That would be a good resolution to kick off the new year.
JONTY: I’ll go to Lynbrook v Doveton. There was a lot of rain interruptions on the weekend, including for myself. I went down to Robinson Reserve for a little bit and saw the end of Doveton’s innings. They actually put up a fair bit of fight against Lynbrook which was really good to see, they made 175. But best action goes to Amandeep Singh, from Lynbrook. He had one-and-a-half stumps to aim at in the last over of the innings, and he hit them. It was a good thing he hit them, too, because it would have been four overthrows. But it was a really clean gather from mid-wicket, quick release from the hand and hit the stumps. I had the perfect view of it and he executed perfectly.
DAVE: I’m going to steal Jonty’s MO here, but I’ll eventually settle on one. I didn’t see this, but apparently Ben Perry from Carlisle Park took two of the greatest caught-and-bowled’s that a ‘Pakenham icon’ has ever seen. Dale Tormey and Chris Smith both smashed balls straight back at him, dynamite hits, and he’s taken both in his follow-through. Then there’s Chris Bright from Kooweerup, who took 20 off the first four balls in the top-of-the-table clash against Tooradin; six, four, six, four. Gamini Kumara hit a six off his toes over mid-wicket for Kooweerup against Tooradin. For all the shots that Chris Bright played, they were all short balls or wide, and got dispatched to where they should. But the Kumara shot just reeked of class. I don’t know how he got it airborne in the first place. With all that being said, I’ve settled on this for my best action; if you were to build a statue of a cricketer to represent Casey-Cardinia cricket in the last 15 years, it would be Pakenham’s Chris Smith. His elegant flick over mid-wicket, it’s just a classic shot. He played one against Carlisle Park on Saturday that was just magnificent. Luckily, our photographer Gary Sissons got a snap of it as well. It hit the middle of the bat and it gave me a warm feeling to see him play it….it’s his signature move.
MARCUS: Staying on the run out theme, I was watching the live stream of Casey South Melbourne v Carlton at Princess Park. Carlton was chasing and had tied the scores with two wickets in hand, and went for a single on the last ball of the 49th over. But Devlin Webb was awake to it at square leg, anticipated the run and threw the stumps down from a narrow angle, similar to Singh’s run out by the sounds at Lynbrook. It prolonged the game to the next over and Casey were unable to secure the final wicket, but that effort in such tense circumstances deserves a mention in my opinion. You always judge how well a side is going by their fielding standards and although the Swans lost, they’re clearly one the best sides in Victorian Premier Cricket this season.
DAVE: Sounds like the standards at Casey South Melbourne are higher than Pakistan’s!
JONTY: It’s good that you highlighted that because a lot of the time when those things happen in a losing side, those sorts of efforts can be overlooked.
DAVE: Even though they lost, given it was a top-of-the-table clash, it sounds like the perfect grand final preview.
JONTY: Devlin bowled to me as a junior and he was very intimidating on a synthetic wicket.
DAVE: Did you smash him?
JONTY: No, I just tried to get a little bit of bat onto it.
GET TO THE CHOPPER
MARCUS: Well I’m not sure if you guys were watching the Big Bash League on Friday night but it was hard to escape the pre-game circus that saw David Warner arrive at the SCG for the Sydney Smash in a helicopter. We know that he had his brother’s wedding and had to make drastic arrangements to ensure he was able to attend both, but it got me thinking. Who would be some players from our competitions that would be likely to, or deserve an entrance like that? Dave, your eyes lit-up at this topic.
DAVE: A no-brainer, Steve Dillon from Kooweerup. When he was coming through as a young bloke at Pakenham, my playing days were coming to a close in the lower grades. One day, Steve hit 140 against Carlisle Park, which included two switch-hits for four. The kid had a lot of talent. But off the field, he’s also done very well for himself. He’s a bit of a high-roller, he drives a Jaguar and it would surprise no one from Kooweerup, or Pakenham, if Steve Dillon arrived at a ground in a helicopter. It’s got him written all-over it. He’s having the best season of his career this year, he made 50 and took three wickets in top-of-the-table clash and made an 80 to get his side over line earlier in the year.
JONTY: A player with swagger who came to mind and would enjoy the spectacle, and was very unhappy not to named in our mid-year Turf 2 Team of the Year, is Matt Collett.
DAVE: That’s a square-up if ever I’ve heard one!
JONTY: It’s not, he’s just the first person who’s come to mind. Collett bats down the order and has that real flamboyant flair with the way he bats, and enjoys being amongst it. If we’re looking at who might ‘deserve’ it, HSD are widely-viewed as the most likeable characters around the competition. Guys like Ryan and Brent Patterson and Triyan de Silva, a lot of them have had really good seasons recently, so it would be good to see them all arrive in a helicopter. It would be really funny and everyone would take it in good spirits too. Jackson Marie is another for how well he’s going, he got another 60 on Saturday for Berwick Springs.
MARCUS: The first name that came to mind for me is in a similar mould to the Warner circumstance in terms of practicality. North Dandenong skipper Clayton McCartney currently lives in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, so for purely beating traffic and logistics, I think he’s one that fits the ball. The other name I wanted to throw up is Brett Forsyth. One achievement that went under the radar a bit at the end of 2023, given it happened in a T20 on a day of Premier Cricket double-headers, was Forsyth hitting his 10,000th run in first-grade Premier Cricket, making him just the 11th player in the competition’s 130 years to do so. I could see him landing on, what is a helipad at Park Oval, then getting a heroes entrance as he walks through the gates at Shepley Oval. He’s going to have to have something named after him when it’s all said and done at that club, given his commitment, dedication and performance over the years, and if anyone has earned an entrance like that, I think it’s Brett Forsyth.
DAVE: I saw Clayton McCartney play footy in the Under 14s for Cranbourne when I was coaching Pakenham, and he kicked 14 goals against us. He was as star back then, so a very good call for the helicopter. And on the subject of naming things after people, I hope that the Officer Recreation Reserve Committee of Management has someone working on the gates as we speak, changing the name of the facility to the Rob Porter Recreation Reserve, because that bloke deserves it for everything he did for that ground in the last 60 years.
RATE THE RECRUITS
MARCUS: One of the more exciting things about preseason is seeing who’s gone where and who’s left their clubs, that sort of thing. There’s been a handful of times we’ve discussed the guys we were keen to see in new colours, but I thought we should check-in on who’s matching the hype, and who needs to lift.
JONTY: Berwick Springs and Lynbrook are two teams in Turf 3 that have never actively recruited before and never put a lot of time into it, they’ve just backed their system and their junior program. But this season both of them have welcomed a few new names and it’s come as no surprise to see them both have their most successful seasons for quite some time. For the Titans, none of their recruits have absolutely stood-up in terms of their performance, but you always hear around the club about how important those two have been at coming in and providing senior experience. Shalika Karunanayake is one that you’re familiar with, Dave. His performances with the bat have been a touch underwhelming but having that senior head there and around the changerooms has been really important for that side. Radomir Badzoka has provided a little bit of that from Springvale, and Scott and Seth Lindsay have been the pick of that quartet with the ball, they’ve provided quite a bit up-front for the Titans. From Lynbrook, Jatinder Singh has been really good with bat and ball. He’s fearsome and intimidating with the ball, and he plays the finisher role really well with the bat. Then there’s Sithara Perera who played his best knock on the weekend. People at Lynbrook have talked about his impact since his arrival in many aspects, particularly with mentoring the juniors, given his premier cricket experience.
DAVE: The obvious names when you think of recruits in the Casey-Cardinia competition are the Sweeney boys, coming over from Cranbourne in the DDCA. Peter Sweeney is currently 14th on the list of run-getters with 236 and has taken eight wickets, while Mick is 26th on the list with 186 runs. The thing with Pete is that he performed in the biggest game of the season so far. Kooweerup was bowling really well against Tooradin in a two-day game, and Pete made 80-odd in what was a quality two-day knock. I’d give him a pass-mark on that innings alone, and he’s been very efficient with the ball, not taking many wickets but keeping the runs down. So Peter Sweeney gets a bigger tick than Mick…who needs to lift. At Carlisle Park, Jaan and Kasun Balasuriya have done well. Jaan is currently seventh on the list of wicket-takers with 16, and his brother has reached double-figures in the wickets column as a quick, so he deserves a shout out as well.
MARCUS: Cal Nicholls is a youngster playing at Narre South from the UK this season. He’s the Lions’ leading run-scorer this season and dug them out of trouble with a few important knocks, including a 58 against Buckley Ridges, and 54, coming in on the second ball of the day against Hallam Kalora Park. He’s extremely well-regarded throughout the league and I’ve even spoken to some people from opposition teams who are hoping he comes back to Narre South in future years, to ensure quality talent remains in the DDCA. Off-spinner Elliot Matthew is a guy who’s come across to Berwick from Narre South. His numbers don’t suggest that he’s been overly successful, but in tandem with fellow Berwick spinner Lachlan Brown, one bowling right arm and one bowling left arm, their ability to dry up ends and bowl long spells has been a real weapon for the Bears. Matthews bowled 12 consecutive overs against Hallam Kalora Park just before Christmas and was unlucky to only claim 2/31. He certainly kept them in it after a poor batting performance. One player I think hasn’t quite met the hype is Roshane Silva from Buckley Ridges. He’s got plenty of pedigree as a former Sri Lankan Test player, but his scores don’t make for great reading; 129, 58, 3, 5, 14, and 0 not out. I think we can all accept that he’s a better player than his numbers suggest, and his team would love some bigger contributions out of him in the remainder of the season.
Another thoroughly enjoyable chat, fellas. We’ll do it all again next week.
