James Nanopoulos will create further history this summer… if – of course – the turf season ever begins.
The champion all-rounder is 12 wickets away from becoming the 58th player to collect 400 or more Vic Premier Cricket First XI scalps.
Over his 251-match career, not only has he accumulated 388 scalps, he’s also blasted 4644 runs.
In light of the superstar all-rounder, here are his 10 best seasons at Premier Cricket level…
*DISCLAIMER: only four of these seasons have won him Team of the Year honours*
10. 2010/11 – 25 wickets at 20.39, BB 4/30 and 285 runs at 14.79: Young Nano collected his second premiership this summer. He finished the season with a stingy 0/3 off eight overs in the grand final.
9. 2021/22 – 22 wickets at 18.09, BB 4/20 and 280 runs at 20.00: The first season at Frankston-Peninsula sneaks in as his ninth best season.
8. 2014/15 – 23 wickets at 18.78, BB 6/28 and 447 runs at 34.28: Hold onto your hats if this is the eighth most impressive season. It might take a few by surprise, but not the Team of the Year selectors… missed the XI this summer.
7. 2016/17 – 30 wickets at 21.90, BB 4/22 and 341 runs at 34.10: Hard to split this season above number eight, the consistency across the two is extraordinary. This one gets the nod for a third flag at seasons end.
6. 2011/12 – 33 wickets at 21.12, BB 3/14 and 348 runs at 19.33: The summer that James Nanopoulos arrived. Played off in a grand final, but fell to a stacked Monash Tigers unit.
5. 2020/21 – 37 wickets at 14.41, BB 8/16 and 174 runs at 15.82: How about having this as your fifth best season? It sneaks in ahead of the season above purely because it was a one-day season, but not as high as the others because of his smaller presence with the stick. Had 5/0 at one stage in that eight-for, it was seriously rude!
4. 2012/13 – 35 wickets at 15.54, BB 5/24 and 347 runs at 23.13: Not a bad fourth best season ever. The season after ‘Nano’ broke the competition open.
3. 2017/18 – 40 wickets at 16.63, BB 4/15 and 317 runs at 26.42: His best figures combatted by his overall numbers typify his consistency this summer, but over the course of a 25 innings season, Nano only went wicket-less on six occasions. Bowled a whopping 254.4 overs with 62 of them maidens. Oh… and he made 317 runs with the stick too!
2. 2018/19 – 33 wickets at 19.33 BB 4/73 and 497 runs at 49.70: A truly ridiculous all-round season. Collected three or more wickets on six occasions and passed 50 four times. If it wasn’t for 900 runs by a teammate, he could very well have taken out the Jack Ryder Medal.
1. 2019/20 – 46 wickets at 12.50, BB 9/26 and 260 runs at 18.57: This is a pretty insulting sort of stat sheet. While it doesn’t look that appealing, he made 238 at 39.67 in the Twenty20 competition that isn’t counted in First XI numbers. He took 9/26 in the opening innings against Greenvale, before finishing the exact same day with 11/45. It was a nasty season that encapsulated his meticulous ability.
