By Marcus Uhe
The upcoming Premier Cricket season is an opportunity for Dandenong to set the record straight, following a disastrous 2022-23 campaign that resulted in a two-win, second-last placed finish and head coach Warren Ayres stepping down late in the year.
In Ayres’ place is club icon Tom Donnell, supported by former Sri Lankan international and Wookey Medal winner Jeevan Mendis, and former Panther Ross Woodall as assistants, driving a playing group eager to write the wrongs of last season.
No side took fewer wickets and conceded more runs than the Panthers in Premier Cricket last season, but in new recruits Noah Hurley, Vishwa Ramkumar and Ollie Jenkins, both the spin and seam bowling stocks have been replenished, giving Donnell high expectations of a more dangerous attack.
“We were competitive with the bat, which I think was a positive, but bowling-wise, we relied on too few,” Donnell said when reflecting on last season.
“I think that’s going to be the big improvement, the bowling stocks, and being a lot more competitive and putting-on more pressure with the ball than we did last year.
“If you can’t get wickets and put too much pressure on the opposition then you’re not going to be in too many games, and that’s something that needed to improve.
“We needed to improve in all areas, I just think the batting was a little bit further ahead than our bowling from last year.”
Evergreen Brett Forsyth will captain the side once again and will be looked upon to provide plenty of runs as he so-often does at the top of the order, but Donnell’s decision to not play in the upcoming campaign leaves a sizeable hole alongside him.
Rather than target a big name recruit to fill the breach, the Panthers are bullish on their younger stocks and development program to step-up to the plate.
“Josh Sawrey is one we’ve got who’s starting to come along, he played in the Victorian under 19s last season and he’s just going to get better and better hopefully.
“Andre Fernando finished the year really strongly in the twos. Dhanusha Gamage is another one who’s nearly ready to go at first 11 level.
“The twos did really well last year so guys like Fernando and Josh Slater need to have a good year for us. There’s quite a few options there for guys to take that spot.”
The Panthers may be seen as vulnerable this season given last year’s exploits, but under Donnell there is a determination to return to past glories.
“Training has really picked up and the standard has really picked up, and the guys are really keen to get to training and put in the work, which is a really great sign and what you want to see,” Donnell said.
“They are generally excited and the guys that were there last year want to correct the season that we had and think we’re better than what we were last year.
“It is quite a fresh playing group.
“There’s been a bit of change over the last few years and hopefully we can see the benefits of that this season with a few good performances.”
Dandenong Cricket Club
2022-23 Finish: 16th
Coach: Tom Donnell
Captain: Brett Forsyth
Ins: Noah Hurley, Vishwa Ramkumar (Ringwood), Ollie Jenkins (Camberwell)
Outs: James Pattinson, Angus Newman (St Kilda), Sahan Perera
Players to watch: Andre Fernando, Joshua Slater, Josh Sawrey
Home ground: Shepley Oval
Fixture:
Round 1 (one day): Saturday 7 October v Casey South Melbourne (A)
Round 2 (two day): Saturday 14 and Saturday 21 October v Prahran (H)
Round 3 (two day): Saturday 28 October and Saturday 4 November v Kingston Hawthorn (A)
Round 4 (two day): Saturday 11 and 18 November v Frankston Peninsula (A)
Round 5 (two day): Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November v Fitzroy Doncaster (H)
Round 6 (one day): Saturday 2 December v Footscray (A)
Round 7 (one day): Saturday 9 December v Carlton (H)
Round 8 (T20): Saturday 16 December v Northcote (H)
Round 9 – Bye
Round 10 (T20): Saturday 16 December v Richmond (H)
Round 11 – Bye
Round 12 (T20): Saturday 6 January v Essendon (A – Junction Oval)
Round 13 (T20): Saturday 6 January v St Kilda (A – Junction Oval)
Round 14 (one day): Saturday 13 January v Melbourne (H)
Round 15 (one day): Saturday 20 January v Melbourne University (A)
Round 16 (two day): Saturday 27 and Saturday 28 January v Camberwell (H)
Round 17 (two day): Saturday 3 and 10 February v Geelong (A)
Round 18 (two day): Saturday 17 and 24 February v Greenvale (H)
