By Marcus Uhe
Springvale South wicketkeeper Paul Hill will shoulder the dual roles of player-coach in 2023/24 as the Bloods search for a third consecutive DDCA Turf 1 premiership.
An extremely respected and highly regarded figure around the club, Hill captained the side to the 2021-22 premiership before Ryan Quirk took over the following year.
Hill replaces club legend Darren Arter, who chose to step-away from coaching in May, going out on a high having guided the Bloods to successive premiership victories.
His glovework was instrumental to the side’s success in both seasons and came to the fore in the 2023 finals campaign, when he affected a leg-side stumping and took two catches while keeping up to the stumps off seam bowlers in the preliminary final against Hallam Kalora Park.
Speaking after that victorious final, all-rounder Blade Baxter sung his praises as both a wicketkeeper and a teammate.
“He’s a warrior, he’s the type of bloke you love playing with and he’s a quiet achiever, just goes about his business and gets the job done,” Baxter said in March.
“Some of the catches and stumpings he’s taken in the last two years, that I’ve played with him, have been unbelievable.
“He’s got no fear, he comes up to the stumps to anyone.
He finished the season with 20 catches and six stumpings, while his lower-order batting was seldom required due to the nature of one-day cricket and the dominance of the top-order.
Hill joins Susantha Pradeep at St Mary’s and Matthew Cox at Hallam Kalora Park as others in Turf 1 to assume a playing coach role.
A large contingent of the playing group that won back-to-back premierships have already put pen to paper for the 2023-24 season, including star batters Ryan Quirk and Jordan Wyatt, seam bowler Josh Dowling and finger-spinner Jarryd Straker.
Should Hill lead the Bloods to a third successive title, they will be the first side in the history of the 92-years of the Turf 1 competition to do so.
