PARKMORE
LAST SEASON: fifth
COMING: Josh Tonna, Rusiru Perera, Satheesh Fernandu (East Coburg), Inol Guruge (Dandenong), Ankit Saxena (Greenvale), Callum O’Connell (England), Alistair Day (England)
GOING: Amal Athulathmudali, Kasun Ranasinghe, Dickshan hettirachi
STAYING: Ammar Bajwa, Avisha Wilwalaarachchi, Kyle Gwynne, Niranjen Kumar, Brad Van Twest, Johan Brohier.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Ankit Saxena, Avisha Wilwalaarachchi, Inol Guruge
Parkmore has moved swiftly in its efforts to return to Turf 1, making a number of changes to its playing list ahead of the upcoming season.
Last season’s captain, Amal Athulathmudali, and coach, Gavin Lehman, have both departed, but the inclusions have come thick and fast.
Of most significance is a pair of former Premier Cricket representatives, in Ankit Saxena, who opened the bowling for Greenvale’s First XI last summer, and Inol Guruge, who has played at Dandenong’s lower levels as a top order batter.
Alistair Day and Callum O’Connell will inject some English influence, with both in their early 20s and keen to make an impression in a summer abroad, while Josh Tonna returns to cricket after some time away from the game to take the gloves.
Recruiting manager Kevin Van Twest explained the recruiting strategy, saying the club wanted to deepen its stockpile of talent.
“What we’ve done is, we’ve tried to take the budget we’ve got and go and sign a number of blokes to give us depth that will spread across both the ones and twos,” he said.
“To get a Premier ones opening bowler to come and play Turf 2 cricket is a massive plus.
“There’s a plan from the executive to try and go younger, so the average age of the First XI will be younger than what it was last year and we want to keep progressing that through over the next two/three/four seasons, and get the average age down of our first 11 to under 30, which we’re not at the moment.”
The Pirates are coming off a mixed year in which they finished fifth, having dropped from Turf 1 the previous campaign, but recorded wins against premiers, Dandenong West, Parkfield and HSD.
A loss to the relegated Keysborough proved costly come the end of the season, however, and exemplified the margin between their best and worst.
“We’re going to rely more on role players than we are on marquees,” Van Twest said.
“Our goal is to make the four and I think we’ve got the side to make the four, from the overall squad of 12/13 guys that are genuine ones cricketers this year.”
