VICTORIAN PREMIER CRICKET SEASON PREVIEW
MEN
DANDENONG:
Coach: Warren Ayres
Last First XI premiership: 2017/18
Last season: The Panthers finished 14th with a five-win, 10-loss record.
It was a season to forget after a few departures in the off-season leading in.
There was strong blooding of some youngsters and a rekindling of that typical Dandy hunger for success.
Most runs: Brett Forsyth (443 at 34.08, four x half-centuries)
Most wickets: Matt Wilson (29 at 20.59, BB: 5/34)
Ins: Ben Allison (overseas), Sahan Perera (Leongatha), Akshat Buch (Springvale South), Jade Christensen (Kingston Hawthorn),
Outs: Jakeb Thomas (Cranbourne), Jarvis Harvey (Carlton)
What we say:
This Dandenong outfit is going to surprise a few in 2022/23.
Considering James Pattinson is set to play a fair chunk of the summer, majority of those games will henceforth result in far more competitive contests, not to mention the perpetual bowling depth.
Unlike the Panthers of old, this group is bursting at the seams with bowling options.
Warren Ayres will have the task of squeezing Ben Allison, Jade Christensen, Matt Wilson, Akshat Buch, Gehan Seniviratne, Braden Taeuber and James Pattinson into the side.
Understandably, Ayres will have the luxury of being able to use both Wilson and Pattinson as all-rounder options, but this side will not be short of bowlers come October 1.
What they say (Warren Ayres):
“I would be shocked if we are not a lot stronger,” he said.
“From all the indications, looking at the pre-season, we look like we’ve got a competitive unit amongst the playing group.
“There’s still a lot of sorting out to be done, but the blokes that are training look ready to go.
“We’re absolutely optimistic that we’re going to have four very strong teams coming into the season.
“I suppose so do a lot of other clubs, but we feel like our depth of player has really developed this year.”
“Well the beauty of Patto is that he’s always loved playing for Dandenong,” he said.
“He’s got some really close friends that play here and that’s the thing for him, he can come back and play for his club and enjoy people’s company.
“Hopefully he plays a bit more for us, he’s indicating that he will, hopefully that is the case when we get to the games during the year.
“He’s looking forward to it, that’s the main thing – he just makes our team so much more competitive and so much better.”
Round 1: v Melbourne at Albert Ground, October 8
