By Marcus Uhe
The emergence of Shobit Singh as a mainstay of the Dandenong Cricket Club’s batting stocks adds to the burgeoning crop of young talent bolstering the regeneration at Shepley Oval under Tom Donnell in Victorian Premier Cricket.
Arriving at Dandenong after crossing from Richmond in the winter, 21-year-old Singh links back up with Panthers skipper Brett Forsyth, who he had been coached by as a junior.
Adapting to life in the Dandenong top order quickly, Singh has two centuries from his first four innings with the Panthers, his second coming in a seven-wicket thrashing on Saturday against Greenvale, making him the competition’s leading runscorer.
Having passed Greenvale’s score early in the day, he and Forsyth added 273 for the third wicket, with Singh reaching 167 from 165 deliveries and Forsyth finishing unbeaten on 124.
Donnell described Singh as having been “unbelievable” since arriving at the club.
“He said he wanted to be a little more attacking and free-flowing and we were more than happy to accommodate that and back him in,” he said of Singh.
“The way he hits the ball, he’s timing it really well and he’s brought a breath of fresh air amongst the batting,” he said.
“He’s been scoring really quickly and looking really well and doing it stylishly.
“He’s hungry to make runs and wants to get his game going to play at a higher level as well, which hopefully we can help him out with and get him up there.”
Singh’s emergence, paired with Dhanusha Gamage’s breakout summer last season in which he was named in the Victorian Premier Cricket First XI Team of the Year, bodes extremely well for the future of the Panthers’ middle order
While Singh has caught the eye with the bat, Noah Hurley has turned heads with his bowling performances as the new leader of the Panthers’ attack.
Plucked from Gippsland on a tip from club legend Brendan McArdle, Hurley has quickly blossomed as one of the competition’s brightest stars, with an impressive record to his name less than a season-and-a-half into his tenure at the Panthers.
Following 25 wickets at 21.8 last summer that featured a Victorian Second XI appearance and a likening to Peter Siddle from senior captain Forsyth, Hurley has found his feet quickly in 2024/25 with 10 wickets from the opening four matches of the summer to place equal-second in total wickets taken for the season.
Donnell is a huge fan of the 21-year-old’s competitiveness and work ethic, believing the combination of the two has seen him grab rewards early in his Dandenong career.
“He’s always wanting to take wickets and always wanting to get in the game,” Donnell said.
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into him and he’s definitely paying us back, which is great.
“He’s got all those attributes – naturally strong and fit – which I think holds him in good stead.
“His willingness to learn and improve is going to hold him well.
“His first full season was last year and he’s getting better and better which is really good to see.”
Hurley, Singh, Gamage and leg spinner Vishwa Ramkumar are the leading lights in the new generation of Panthers as the club looks to regenerate its playing stocks after a period out of contention for senior premierships, and with a glutton of experienced heads departing in recent years.
Ramkumar missed the beginning of the Panthers’ season, but with good reason, having represented Australia’s Under 19 side in India against its equivalent.
His 3/75 and 4/79 in the first of two unofficial three-day Test Matches bettered any of his teammates’ bowling efforts in that fixture, and despite taking just 12 wickets last summer, the backing from the senior leadership at the club saw him play 17 matches
Teething problems remain and the Panthers have not escaped the lulls in consistency that come with a focus on young talent, but Donnell is happy to ride the bumps in the road.
“I think our best is really good but our worst can be pretty down as well,” he said.
“It’s still a work in progress, we’re still a fair way off being one of the top sides in the competition.
“It’s a matter of getting things right and the methods right and making the gap between the best and worst as little as possible, which is what all the good sides do.
“Hopefully we can bridge that gap and be a bit more consistent with everything.”
The Panthers reached 3/311 from 67 overs on Saturday before declaring and affording themselves the chance of an outright result.
Ramkumar and Nanopoulos grabbed one wicket each as the Kangaroos bunkered down, reaching 76 before play was called.
The seven-wicket win moved Dandenong into fourth place on the table and delivered a healthy boost to its percentage.
The competition moves into its white-ball phase for the next two months, with the Panthers welcoming second-last Fitzroy-Doncaster to Shepley Oval on Saturday.
