The Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf 1 season is upon us.
Well… nearly!
While this weekend’s matches have been withdrawn to the following weekend, the season is only sleeps away.
Star News Group DDCA reporter TYLER LEWIS has spoken with each of the eight Turf 1 clubs in order to get a deep understanding of where they all sit.
Here is part one of the DDCA Turf 1 season preview…
SPRINGVALE SOUTH:
Captain: Ryan Quirk
Last Turf 1 premiership: 2021/22
Last season: The Bloods climbed the mountain from fourth position and did so with half a tank of gas left. Defeating Narre South, Berwick and then finally Buckley Ridges in the finals series, Springy South were extremely worthy winners of the Turf 1 flag.
Most runs: Jordy Wyatt (543 runs at 49.36, one century and four half-centuries)
Most wickets: Akshat Buch (30 wickets at 13.53, BB: 5/33)
Ins: Yoshan Kumara (Deer Park), Duman Perera (Sri Lanka)
Outs: Akshat Buch (Dandenong, VPC)
What we say:
Superlatives are certainly running short for the reigning premier.
The Bloods will be in contention once again after another steady off-season. Losing Buch hurts, particularly with the return of red-ball cricket, but his boots will be filled by Kumara and Perera.
Springy South peaked at the perfect time last season, but will need to rekindle that form in round 1 if its to knock off the arch-nemesis again.
Expectation for this side should be to play off in a grand final again, they’re simply too good to settle for anything less.
What they say (premiership captain Paul Hill):
“I don’t think it’s going to be too much different for us,” he said.
“We have spoken lots in the last couple years of looking forward to playing two-day cricket, a lot of our cricket suits that sort of stuff.
“I think Jordy is clearly the explosive one that will be a run a ball no matter what format he’s playing, so we let him do his thing and everyone else plays their role.
“I know Sketch (Jackson Sketcher) had a good finish to last year, but he’s more of a take his time sort of bat.
“Ryan (Quirk) and Mitch (Forsyth), the two-day stuff suits them, I don’t think it’ll be different.”
*Paul Hill has since stepped down as captain and has been replaced by Ryan Quirk.
Round 1: v Buckley Ridges at Alex Nelson Reserve, October 8
