By Nicholas Creely
The Panther is pouncing once more with the Dandenong Cricket Club nearing the Christmas break as heavy favourites for this year’s Premier Cricket premiership.
After missing out on finals for three straight years, and enduring some tough and testing soul searching moments, the light is well and truly at the end of the tunnel.
Entering the season, newly appointed coach Nick Speak said that the club had a “really young list” that the players “weren’t far off” and that they can “challenge top six at worst, and club championship top four”.
Despite the snickering of others who believed Dandenong was destined for another “nothing” season, Speak and his hungry Panthers have defied the odds and played a stunning first half of the season.
No player has really dominated on an individual sense – it’s been a team collective effort that has pushed them to greater heights.
But one innings definitely at least warrants a mention. In Round 3 skipper Tom Donnell blasted one of the more astonishing innings ever seen at that level.
His unbeaten 114 against Melbourne University in just 62 balls was one of those moments that has sparked the Panthers to continually brutalize their opposition.
Then there is the prodigiously talented James Pattinson who, only just two weeks ago, blasted 137 in a Twenty20. Let that sink in.
But despite these astonishing individual performances, other members have risen to the level.
It can be argued that no other player in the competition this season has improved so dramatically like James Nanopoulos.
The all-rounder is having a special first half of the season, knocking out 219 runs with the bat at an average of 43.80. But with the ball, Nanopoulos has already taken 17 wickets at 20.06.
To put these statistics into perspective, Nanopoulos had 189 runs at an average of 17.2, and 12 wickets at 28.9 at the same stage last season.
Lincoln Edwards has had a strong start at his new club, including two match-winning half-centuries, Adam McMaster continues to improve and get quicker with the ball and, despite not getting much opportunity with the bat so far, Jacques Augustin is relishing his opportunity with the gloves since crossing over from Fitzroy-Doncaster.
And players like Callum Parkinson, who adds a vital professional component, gun batsman Brett Forsyth and young gun Edward Newman round out such a balanced squad.
But perhaps the biggest story is the comeback of Australian quick James Pattinson, who has flourished in his return from serious injury setbacks.
In his 10 games this season, ‘Patto’ has made 371 runs at 53.00 and with the ball, which he is apparently stronger in, he has taken 6 wickets after only resuming bowling a month ago.
In what has been a fairly comprehensive first half of the season, the Panthers have only lost two games, and, at this stage, have won eight and sit atop the ladder.
Their grittiest win was arguably in Round 7 when they played Kingston Hawthorn at Walt Galt Reserve. The week prior, the Panthers were stunned when they came to the ground to find the pitch under water, despite the weather being perfect and the sun blazing.
They came back the very next week, with just one day to go, and chased down 197 in just 38.1 overs, after the Hawks threatened to bat out the last day.
It won’t get easier for the Panthers, who will eventually return back to cricket after the new year with expectation they can take it all the way in 2016/17.
There is plenty more cricket left to play and the old adage that ‘cricket is a funny game’ and anything can happen certainly applied, but the Panthers are well and truly placed for a tilt at a premiership, and with it, the respect of the competition.
