By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION
ALL eyes are set on Cranbourne ahead of this year’s Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf 1 season opener on Saturday.
The Eagles swooped on a DDCA recruiting coup, getting Parkfield premiership captain Steve Spoljaric to switch across from Dunblane Reserve to Casey Fields ahead of the 2014/15 season.
With a Ryder Medal and three Wookey Medals hanging in his trophy cabinet, Spoljaric remains the premier player in Turf 1 and will radically strengthen an already powerful Eagles top order featuring Lucas Ligt and Ben Maroney.
Spoljaric said the time was right to head off with Parkfield strong on the field and Cranbourne on the rise into the top division.
“They had a chat to me the previous season and they showed their interest, but they didn’t make it (to Turf 1),” Spoljaric said to the Cranbourne News earlier this year.
“When you do your research they shouldn’t have been in Turf 2, but hopefully a little bit of my direction and we can turn them into a powerhouse like they should be,” Spoljaric said.
“Just happy for the fresh start and it’s going to be good fun – I’m there for two years -and I hope I can get them on a very dominant path.”
Trevor Johnston has left Cranbourne after guiding the club to premiership success, but has been replaced as coach by former Casey-South Melbourne coach Brett Lewis.
BERWICK’S losses will be hard to replace as Test spearhead Thilan Samaraweera (Casey-South Melbourne) and Tanner Stanton (Dandenong) head out to the local Premier clubs instead of returning to Arch Brown Reserve. Replacing Samaraweera near the top of the order will be 21-year-old Cheadle batsman Dan Brown. Nirmal Wickramaratne has returned and with Ryan Crawford and skipper Jarrod Goodes will rattle off most of the Bears’ overs in 2014/15.
HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS shouldn’t be discounted either as the side maintained its finals-worthy side of 2013/14, choosing to stick together rather than draw in the big recruits. The Cobras were expertly knocked off in the finals by Springvale South. The Cobras will be out to strike early via spearheads Justin Davis (27 wickets) and Paul Stockdale (21 wickets). The loss of Matt Cox to a knee injury will hurt the Cobras, but he hopes to return late in the season as the finals approach.
HALLAM KALORA PARK is another to stabilise its list ahead of the season with the Booths – Lee and Corey – remaining the lynchpins of the attack.
In Turf 2, eyes will turn to DOVETON as the Doves beefed up their bowling over the off-season with a boon recruit. The arrival of Test cricketer Darren Pattison, who has returned home to Robinson Reserve, will make the Doves’ middle order and bowling attack ferocious as Doveton hopes to bounce back into Turf 1. Shane White has left to play in the West Gippsland league.
NARRE WARREN will also want to earn its place back in Turf 1 after a diabolical campaign left the Magpies in last place and their last-round pitch vandalised (literally) to prevent any chance of staying in the top division. All-rounder Kaushalya Weeraratne will lead the team with Shaun Van Dam also out for a big season with the bat. Roger Young will lead the Mapgies as head coach.
Rounding out the local sides in DDCA Turf 2 are NARRE SOUTH, NARRE NORTH, FOUNTAIN GATE and HAMPTON PARK.
DDCA FIXTURE
ROUND 1
TURF 1
Cranbourne v Dandenong West
Berwick v Lyndale
Mordialloc v Heinz Southern Districts
North Dandenong v Hallam Kalora Park
TURF 2
Narre Warren v Narre South
Southern Pirates v Doveton
Fountain Gate v Parkdale
Hampton Park v Narre North
