By Nick Creely
The Aspendale Cricket Club has elected to leave the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA), in a bid to join the recently formed Southern Bayside competition.
The club officially informed the DDCA of their decision early last week, based on logistical concerns.
It adds another chapter to the club’s unstable five years in the cricketing ranks – in 2014, the Dales elected to leave the Victorian Turf Cricket Association (VTCA) for the DDCA, due to wanting to be involved in a higher standard of cricket.
Last season, the Dales had four senior sides (Turf 2, Turf 6, A Grade and E Grade), as well as a further five junior teams.
The move to the new competition means there is going to be a shake-up of the Turf 2, Turf 3 and Turf 4 grades for 2017/18.
In other DDCA news, Buckley Ridges have signed two key players for the 2017/18 season, with New Zealanders Jurgen Andersen and Greg Todd joining the club.
Todd, a former New Zealand first class cricketer in Auckland and a former Buckley Ridges premiership player, will re-join the Bucks after four years at Bentleigh.
The other signing – North Dandenong’s Jurgen Andersen – is a massive coup for the club.
Back in Round 3 of last year, Andersen put in one of the great individual performances in DDCA history, taking 9/79 against Narre Warren.
Andersen took 28 wickets at 21.3 last season, and contributed 187 runs at 15.6
It is expected that the Bucks’ overseas imports in Steve Mullaney and Luke Fletcher are unlikely to return.
