Panthers pounce

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG Cricket Club last week anointed Steve Chapman as the man to guide the Panthers back to the Premier Cricket finals.
Chapman’s appointment as senior coach for the next two seasons was confirmed last Friday after the resignation of club legend Warren Ayres last month.
Chapman, the former Hallam Cricket Club coach, said he was excited about the start of a new era at Shepley Oval.
“There’s a lot of history there and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to add to that,” he said.
Chapman’s coaching resume includes development roles with his home county, Durham, where he also played two seasons of first-class cricket as a batsman and left-arm spinner.
He came to Australia in 1996 as Hallam’s overseas player and later skippered and coached the Dandenong District Cricket Association outfit during an eight-year association with the club.
He now runs his own business, SC Cricket Coaching, out of the Cannon Indoor Sports Centre in Narre Warren.
Panthers president Michael Findlay said Chapman was an “excellent match” for the club, particularly given his involvement in junior development in the region.
Chapman is hoping this knowledge will give Dandenong a head start at recruiting talented locals.
“I’ve probably worked with most of the lads who are looking to aspire (to the Premier ranks), so there’s already trust established there. From a selling point of view, that’ll make it a lot easier,” he said.
Ayres’ resignation prompted fears that the Panthers could lose some of their established stars over the off season, but Findlay said no player movements had been confirmed as yet.
Dandenong finished 10th on the ladder in 2009-10, missing the finals for the second consecutive season.