With the Dandenong District Cricket Association set to begin from 8 October, Turf 2 reporter JONTY RALPHSMITH has taken a deep look at how each club is tracking…
Beaconsfield
2021-22: result: seventh on the ladder with a 5-7 record. Beaconsfield’s season started with some promise, winning three of its five games before Christmas, before dropping away and out of finals contention. The wins tended to rely on keeping the opposition to low totals, as the bowling throughout the season was disciplined whereas the batting struggled for consistency. Took the second-fewest wickets in the season but conceded the fewest runs – admittedly, partially due to opponents often chasing lower scores.
2021-22 leading runscorer: Ashan Madushanka (251 runs at 36, one 50)
2021-22 leading wicket-taker: Ashan Madushanka (21 wickets at 10, ER 2.58)
Preview: The mightily successful Mark Cooper comes in as the new captain-coach of Beaconsfield, headlining four inclusions. Tyler Clark returns to the club and younger brother, Riley, also comes in, with Cooper optimistic those additions will help bolster the batting. Discipline and endurance with the willow have been focuses of preseason and Cooper is optimistic those inclusions will add stability to the top-order. Development of good habits in the longer format is something people can expect to see as Cooper hopes the likes of Michael Dunstan, Brad Miles and Mitch Tielen can turn intermittent glimpses into stable output. It will be important that progression occurs quickly given the departure of second top runscorer Michael Vandort – 225 runs last season. Left arm orthodox spinner Ashan Madushanka has shown he can shoulder the bulk of the slow bowling load and will be heavily relied upon by Beaconsfield, but will be well complemented by quicks Jake Cutting (11 wickets last season) and Luke Stow and Callan Tout. Consistency throughout the season is another source of improvement Beaconsfield will be seeking under Cooper given the club’s inability to capitalise on a promising start to last season.
