By Marcus Uhe
BEACONSFIELD
LAST SEASON: 7th
COMING: Dylan Vanderwert (Dandenong), Andrey Fernando (Dandenong), Connor Nel (South Africa), Susantha Pradeep (St Mary’s)
GOING: Mark Cooper (Cardinia), Trishane de Silva (Cardinia), Yohan Arumadura (Cardinia)
STAYING: Mitch Tielen, Tyler Clark, Joel Matthews, Ben Hammond, Riley Clark, Jake Cutting, Michael Dunstan, Ashan Madushanka
Players to watch: Andrey Fernando, Connor Nel, Susantha Pradeep.
Staying in Turf 1 was a massive achievement for Beaconsfield last summer, but it’s time to see if they’re good enough to avoid simply not falling down the grades.
Two wins in the first four rounds, and a promising start with the ball in a tricky defence against Buckley Ridges in the then-abandoned round three contest showed signs of promise and set the scene to become a genuine banana peel opponent for teams, should they not show the dignified level of respect to the Turf 2 premiers.
A winless second half of the season, however, saw the promising start wasted away in disappointing fashion as the rigours of Turf 1 cricket became too much to withstand.
Too much responsibility fell to Mark Cooper, who was head-and-shoulders above his nearest teammate for runs scored with 463.
No bowler, meanwhile, took more than 20 wickets, with the second-highest wicket taker in Trishane de Silva joining Cooper in departing the club, along with all-rounder Yohan Arumadura – three of their top five with the ball, having taken 43 per cent of total wickets last summer.
That amount of talent with the ball going out the door will put a premium on the Tigers’ ability to bat for long periods and show the required patience at the wicket.
Mick Cronin will coach the Tigers this summer and Susantha Pradeep will captain the side, having stunned the Turf 1 community to reach the podium in last summer’s Wookey Medal count.
Pradeep hit 432 runs at 36 and took 20 wickets as one of the competition’s best all-rounders last summer and his leadership at Beaconsfield will be invaluable in the wake of Cooper’s departure.
A pair of former Dandenong Panthers in Andrey Fernando and Dylan Vanderwert will bolster the top order, and the explosive Connor Nel will offer a dynamic option in the middle order.
Fernando played 150 games for the Panthers and hit 3600 runs in his tenure at Shepley Oval and his experience at higher levels will be vital.
If the Tigers wish to remain in the top Turf competition, they’ll need to put all the lessons learned last summer into practice.
