Why i Decided to do this ?

Hi there my name is Cohen McElroy; Im a 20-year-old Sport Journalism student at Latrobe University in Bundoora. I have a passion for cricket and writing, we were asked to write a blog on a niche topic. I chose Cricket, in particular The Victorian Premier Cricket competition.

You may think why blog about premier cricket? We were told by our tutor not to be to general in terms of picking AFL or NRL, or even talking about the Australian Cricket team. For me I love the game of cricket, and I thought I would take a more direct approach and talk about the competition that produces all the players from Victoria who go on to play for Victoria and even Australia. The competition has featured the likes of Shane Warne, Peter Siddle, Cameron White and even latest test player Glen Maxwell. The journey to wear the baggy green for these players all started in this competition playing for St Kilda, Dandenong, Richmond and Fitzroy-Doncaster respectively.

I personally have been playing cricket for around about 10 years now but in saying that this definitely does not make me a “know it all” or an “expert”. In saying this though from this blog I endeavor to promote the competition, and bring to light many players achievements and also Club success.

How do I plan to do this you may ask? I will be looking at writing pieces on many categories such as club previews, season reviews, Profile pieces and also player interview’s.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog and you get all your premier cricketing needs here.

Thanks Cohen McELroy

Victorian Premier Cricket Season 2013/14 Round One preview Part One

The opening weekend of premier cricket begins on October fifth, with the first game being a one-day game. This time last year the opening round had seven of the eight matches reduced or washed out due to the weather. Let’s hope for some better weather to start season 2013/2014.

 Reigning premier Melbourne take on Casey-South Melbourne at the Albert ground. After winning the title last season Melbourne will be looking for a good start and some revenge after what happened last time they met. In round 16 last season Casey-South Melbourne had a massive win over Melbourne. Melbourne will be without Andrew McDonald after his move to South Australia.

 Hawthorn-Monash University play host to Richmond at Monash University to kick start the season. Both teams missed finals action last year, making a good start to season 2013/14 even more important. Richmond will also look to unveil new recruit Victorian Bushranger Daniel Christian.

 Carlton will host Essendon at Princess Park to start the season. Carlton finished seventh in 2012/13, whilst Essendon finished outside the finals. Can Essendon turn their form around and start the season with an upset? Carlton will be looking for a good start to improve on last season.

 The newly appointed Greenvale Kangaroos (formerly North Melbourne), start their premier journey against Prahran at Greenvale reserve. Prahran had a strong 2012/13 finishing 2^nd on the ladder, so it will be a tough initiation for the new comers. Former Prahran player Daniel Salpietro has made the move to the Greenvale Kangaroos and will be hoping for an upset against his old club.

 Northcote will host Frankston Peninsula at the Bill Lawry Oval to start season 2013/14. Northcote had a year they would rather forget in 2012/13 finishing in 18^th position, but Frankston on the other hand snuck into 8^th position and played finals cricket.

 Click here to see part two and my tips for round one: https://cohenmcelroy.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/round-one-preview-part-two/

Round One preview Part Two

Melbourne University will host Fitzroy-Doncaster for the first game of the season at University Main Oval. Melbourne University will be looking for a strong start after missing the finals in season 2012/13 by a single point. Fitzroy-Doncaster on the other hand will be looking to improve their position after finishing sixth in 2012/13 and playing finals cricket for the first time since the 2008/09 season. Melbourne University New Coach Jarrod Leggett will hope to get off to a winning start as coach.

 Footscray-Edgewater takes on last years grand finalists Ringwood at Merv G Hughes Oval to kick start the season. When these two teams met last season it was a run fest, the match had 736 runs scored for the lost of 12 wickets. Ringwood was the eventual winner chasing down 366 to win, let’s hope for another run fest like that to start the season.

 Geelong will make the hike down to Dandenong for their round one clash at Shepley Oval. Meryick Buchanan has decided to chase his footy dreams, so he will be a big out for Geelong. Dandenong on the other hand gain Darren Pattinson full time after he announced his retirement from first class cricket. Dandenong batsmen Tom Donnell was the competitions highest run scorer last season and will be a prize wicket for Geelong. Dandenong new Ross Woodall will be looking to make an immediate impact.

 The Camberwell Magpies will take on St Kilda Cricket club at the Camberwell sports ground. Former Tasmanian tiger and Renegades play Brendan Drew has taken over the reigns at Camberwell as coach. Rob Quiney has taken the captaincy and St Kilda, whilst young bushranger James Muirhead will look for a big start to the year to push for higher honors.

 See below for the rounds fixture and my tip for each match. 

Hawthorn-Monash University	v	Richmond	Monash University #1	Richmond
Melbourne	v	Casey-South Melbourne	Albert Ground	Melbourne
Carlton	v	Essendon	Princes Park # 1 Oval	Carlton
North Melbourne	v	Prahran	Greenvale Reserve	Prahran
Northcote	v	Frankston Peninsula	Bill Lawry Oval	Frankston
Melbourne Uni	v	Fitzroy Doncaster	University Main Oval	Fitzroy
Footscray Edgewater	v	Ringwood	Mervyn G Hughes Oval	Ringwood
Dandenong	v	Geelong	Shepley Oval	Dandenong
Camberwell Magpies	v	St Kilda	Camberwell Sports Ground	St Kilda

Young Ringwood quick Matt Fotia enjoys a busy winter

What a winter it has been for Ringwood Cricket Clubs young speedster Matt Fotia. Coming towards the end of the 2012/13 premier season Matt was getting ready for another a night of training at Ringwood, before he received a call to inform him that he had been selected to tour New Zealand with the Australian Under 19 cricket team.

 “The phone call came from nowhere and ended up making me late for training, but it was a pretty good excuse,” Matt said.

 Matt jetted off over to New Zealand for a 4 match series which included three one-day matches and a three day match. The young Ringwood quick performed exceptionally well in the one-day format, taking 4/44 and 3/41 in his two matches.

 “[Fotia] is a strongly built young man who likes to bowl fast and who loves a chat,” Greg Chappell said.  

 To follow Greg Chappell’s comments on Matt, he was warned for his send offs during a match. “There was sledging in the series, I will confess to partaking in it,” confessed the young quick.

 The series was a success for Matt, who finished the series with 9 wickets from his three games. “I was personally over the moon with my performances in the series, initially going in hoping just to take one wicket.”

 Now with premier season fast approaching Matt is eyeing off a first eleven Debut with Ringwood. Matt is hoping to hold a regular spot in the strong Ringwood bowling stocks, and then hopefully be apart of helping Ringwood go one step further is season 2013/14, after a narrow grand final loss to Melbourne last season. Matt is also hoping with good performances for Ringwood he could force his way into the Futures League team by seasons end. 

Fitzroy-Doncaster Cricket Club season 2013/14 Preview

Fitzroy-Doncaster Cricket Club season preview for season 2013/14

Head Coach – Lloyd Mash

Assistant Coach/Mentor – Sean Pietersz

Assistant Coach/Bowling Coach – Stuart Clark

Assistant Coach/Academy Coach – John Hayes

Club Captain – Peter Dickson

2012/2013 Ladder Position:

First Eleven: 6^th

Second Eleven: 7^th

Third Eleven: 5^th

Fourth Eleven: 11^th

New Recruits for season 2013/14: Eben Martin, (Melb Uni), Jordan Drinkall (NZ), Jono Moore (St.Kevins CC) Alex Cattanach (Croydon CC), Dylan Potter (Riverside CC), Tim Baker and Wells (Diamond Creek CC)

Fitzroy-Doncaster enjoyed a successful 2012/13 season with three of the clubs four sides playing in the finals. The clubs first eleven side enjoyed its first taste of finals cricket since season 2008/09. To add to this stat, the first eleven only lost one game after Christmas on their way to the finals. All three teams who featured in the finals sadly didn’t make it past the first week, all bowing out in the quarterfinals. The 2012/13 season was a step in the right direction for Fitzroy-Doncaster as they look to build on this for the upcoming season.

With season 2013/14 fast approaching, Fitzroy have set their sights on improving from season 2012/13 in all grades. The club has set it sights on all 4 teams making the finals and trying to surpass last year’s quarterfinal exits. The club is also looking for more player representation at higher levels, to follow players such as Glenn Maxwell(Australia), Ejaaz Alavi(Victorian Futures League), Liam Banthorpe(Victorian u/17s) and Matthew Bullen(Victorian u/17s). “We will look to play good competitive cricket and take every opportunity we can,” said Coach Lloyd Mash.

A young left arm spinner to look out for in season 2013/14 will be Ejaaz Alavi. Ejaaz enjoyed a solid year in the first eleven playing 18 matches taking 15 wickets at an average of 28.67, with a best bowling of 2/7. His season was rewarded late in the year with a game in the Victorian Futures League team against Western Australia. In his first appearance he made 28 and took 1/19 in the first innings and captured 1/35 in the second innings. Ejaaz was also apart of the Victorian Under 17s during the 2012/13 summer. Playing a key role, Ejaaz helped the side to win the national championships in Tasmania.

By Cohen McElroy

Prahran Cricket Club Season Preview 2013/14

Prahran Cricket Club season review 2013/14

Coach-Andrew Walton

Captain– Sam Coates

Assistant Coach-Peter Di Venuto

Assistant Coach-Paul McMahon

Bowling Coach-Paul Sealey

Batting Coach–Chris Rogers

Bowling & Leadership–Bryce McGain

Batting Coach-David Longhurst

Junior Development-Liam Murphy

2012/2013 Ladder position:

First Eleven– 2^ND

Second Eleven– 1^ST

Third Eleven– 16^TH

Fourth Eleven – 10^TH

New recruits for season 2013/14: James Miller (Frankston Peninsula), James Bourke (Returning from UK), Nathan McNally (Eildon Park), Andrew Powell (Hawthorn Monash / Bendigo United), Josh Cunningham (Melville,WA), Guy Whitfield (Preston Baseballers), Sam Roney (Elsternwick), Tom Bishop (Hawthorn Monash), Chris Diggle (East Sandringham), Nick Blaich (Malvern), James Martin (Returning from study), Dylan Rhys-Jones (Chelsea), Jackson Morris (Canterbury), Patrick Burnell (Bentleigh), Sam Grimwade (Malvern), Krishna Padmanabham (Oakleigh), Rob Di Natale (Oakleigh)

Players leaving Prahran: James Wild (Ormond), Leigh Alford (Malvern), Stephen Seymour (UK), Daniel Salpietro (Greenvale Kangaroos)

 The 2012/13 season had mixed results for the Prahran Cricket Club, the firsts and seconds having strong seasons but the thirds and fourths missed out on finals action. The highlights of the 2012/13 season include the first eleven making the one-day final but coming up short against Melbourne. The Second Eleven also made the grand final but were beaten by Camberwell. The club also finished the season inside the top 5 (3^rd position) of the club championships for the third consecutive season.

Looking forward to the coming season Prahran will be looking to maintain its consistency as a club in the shorter forms of the game (Twenty20 and one-day cricket). Last season the club wasn’t happy with the stat of runs scored per loss of wicket, and this will be a big focus for the club in the coming season as its looks to perform in the big games. The club is pushing to have all four sides in the finals and look to finish in the top five of the club championships for a fourth consecutive season.

A player to watch for this season out of Toorak Park will be young batsmen Jack Taylor. Jack exploded out of the blocks in the 2012/13 season exceeding a lot of people expectations. Jack made his debut in the Victorian Under 23 futures league team, where he made 55 and 16 in his first match. Jack’s 2012/13 season hit a hurdle when he required surgery in December on his hip. A fit and firing Jack Taylor will shoulder more responsibility in 2013/14 with a move up the batting order from round one.

Frankston Cricket Club Season Preview 2013/14

Frankston Cricket Club season preview for season 2013/2014

Coach: Matt Chasemore

Development Coach: Dave Mclean

High Performance manger: Bruce Waldron

Captain: Matt Chasemore

2012/2013 Ladder Position:

First Eleven: 8^th

Second Eleven: 10^th

Third Eleven: 11^th

Fourth Eleven: 12^th

 Players leaving Frankston: Chris Dew (Pearcedale), Sean Wilson (Tooraddin), Ben Hillard (Hallam), Tom Baron (Mt Eliza), Matt Lineker (UK) and James Miller (Prahran).

New Recruits for season 2013/14: Jayde Herrick (Casey South Melbourne), Michael McClean (Camberwell Magpies), Justin Grant (Mt Eliza), Ben Frith (Heatherhill), Liam Tonkin (Hawthorn Monash Uni), Jarratt Eastburn (North Melbourne), Luke Heath (Hawthorn Monash Uni), Nick Mann (Somerville), Nick Taranto (Tyabb), Liam Bennett (Clyde), Kiefer Pieres (Clyde).

In season 2012/13 the club saw many of its stalwarts retire, players such as Darren Groves, Ben Cairns and former Victorian opening batsmen Nick Jewell. This had the club needing a rebuild to get back up to the top end of the premier cricket ladder. The start of the season was very much a learning curve, but the players did start to come together and after round 11 only lost 2 games coming into the finals. To add to this strong finish, Frankston finished with two outright victories against North Melbourne and Northcote to pinch 8^th spot. The second and third elevens showed tremendous fight to finish just one game outside the top 8, and the fourth eleven which was rather inexperienced, developed well and won 6 games. The club achieved its internal goal for the season by finishing in the top 8 of the club championship.

With season 2013/14 coming very quickly Frankston are well underway, managing to snare Victorian fast bowler Jayde Herrick from Casey-South Melbourne for the upcoming season. The inclusion of Herrick, could see Frankston’s round one bowling attack feature Victorian Bushrangers Scott Boland, Jayde Herrick and Jon Holland, with Australian under 19 representative Ben Ashkenazi also thrown in there. Bowling will very much be the strength for Frankston going into season 2013/14, but with the bat a lot will ride on captain coach Matt Chasemore who had a stellar 2012/13 season. The main goal for the club in season 2013/14 will be to continue the development, and for the first eleven to get better at the shorter forms (twenty20 and One dayers) and also to keep producing state representatives.

The player to watch from Frankston this coming season will be young fast bowler Ben Ashkenazi. Ben has played 13 first eleven games in his short career. Ben represented Victoria in the Under 19 competition in 2012/13 and dominated the carnival with the ball. Ben took 15 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 14.63, with a best bowling of 4/21 against Northern Territory. These performances helped Ben in gaining selection for the Australian u/19s in a tour to New Zealand. Ben will miss the start of the premier season whilst he is away representing Australia in a quad series over in India during late September early October.

Special thanks to Frankston Cricket Club General Manager Glenn Davey.

By Cohen McElroy