By Roy Ward
WHEN Casey-South Melbourne spinner Clive Rose played for Victoria’s second XI against Sri Lanka earlier this year, he thought he had experienced the highlight of his summer.
When he made his senior Victorian one-day debut in mid-February he was sure there was nothing better to come.
But all that changed last week when he was awarded the Jack Ryder Medal as the best and fairest player in Premier Cricket.
Rose joins some of the greats of Victorian cricket after he polled 34 votes in the count to beat Frankston-Peninsula duo Matt Chasemore (32 votes) and James Miller (31) to win, with Ringwood’s David King finishing fourth and Prahran’s Steve Seymour fifth.
The 22-year-old left-arm spinner had a career-defining season, taking 41 wickets at 20 from 18 matches for the Swans while also making 440 runs at 27.
Dandenong Panthers star Tom Donnell joined Rose in the team of the season.
Rose, a Narre Warren South resident, said the medal win had caught him by surprise.
“I thought I might be top five as they had invited me to the count,” he said. “So it caught me by surprise. To stand up on the stage in front of all those great players, it was pretty big for me.”
Rose said his parents were elated. “You couldn’t wipe the smile of their face when I told them,” he said.
During the off-season Rose hopes to play in England after securing a deal with Durham-based club Crook.
