By Marcus Uhe
Keysborough captain Christo Otto will enter the McDonald Medal count on Sunday as one of the favourites in a strong field to be crowned the best player of the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 3 season.
Otto finished last season’s Gartside Medal count in third place despite the Knights’ disappointing season that saw them relegated from Turf 2.
He has not let the drop in division affect his output, however, a key figure with both the bat and ball, and one of the few to feature in the top 10 for both runs and wickets – alongside fellow contender Jatinder Singh, and Ranees Khaleel.
CHRISTO OTTO – KEYSBOROUGH
305 runs at 33.89, 3 x 50s. 24 wickets at 15.25.
Round four to seven will be when the all-rounder makes his move, a period with three half-centuries and four three-wicket hauls in comfortable wins.
And where his batting has not sustained the high output of the opening half of the year, his bowling has come to the fore, with eight wickets in three rounds between weeks 10 and 12 of the season.
The McDonald Medal will be a hotly contested field, with the winners of the last two seasons, in Sachith Jayasinghe and Nuwan Kulasekara, no longer eligible.
Here are some others that will be in the mix.
HARKANWAL SINGH – SILVERTON
35 wickets at 12.51, 1 x five-wicket haul.
Singh has been an excellent addition to the Silverton program after stepping away from Turf 1 side Berwick, spearheading the attack and showing his class at Turf 3 level.
He made an instant impact for the Bakers with 3/36 in an important win over Berwick Springs that set his side on their way to premiership contention.
He was one of the competition’s wicket takers for much of the season and did not have a wicketless innings until round 11, with three hauls of four wickets and five hauls of three to go with his five wickets against Keysborough.
Singh will need to maximise his early season form, after dipping in the middle of the season.
JATINDER SINGH – LYNBROOK
288 runs at 28.80, 3 x 50s. 32 wickets at 7.50, 3 x five-wicket hauls.
The pride of the Lakers has not matched the consistency of previous summers but a handful of dominant performances will be sure to attract the attention of umpires.
52 and 4/20 in round two against Keysborough, 64 and 6/12 against Narre North in round four and 3/26 against Doveton in round six will likely see him make the early running in the count, before storming back into contention with and 5/37 and 53 against Berwick Springs in round 12.
JAMES WRIGHT – KEYSBOROUGH
34 wickets at 10.71, 4 x five-wicket hauls
Keysborough’s workhorse opening bowler will take the competition by storm in the middle of the summer and stands as one of the biggest threats to his captain’s likely victory in the count.
Between rounds seven and 10, he took 25 wickets with two hauls of six wickets and two hauls of five.
How his performances will be graded however will shape the middle of the count.
One of his bags came against the hapless Doveton and the other came in a shock loss to Narre North where he could be overshadowed by other performances.
With very little runs to speak of either, and with all-rounders at a considerable advantage in these counts, his contendership is somewhat handicapped.
KARAN SINGH – FOUNTAIN GATE
348 runs at 38.67, 3 x 50s.
A key to Fountain Gate’s success this summer as a rock in the batting card.
Often the Gators have built around his performances at either the top of the card or in the middle order as the captain shoulders the bulk of responsibility.
Each time he passed 50 the Gators picked up the points with important scores of 56 against Silverton and 91 against Lynbrook vital in Fountain Gate’s climb up the ladder.
Missing out on performances against Doveton twice, however, loom as vital voting opportunities missed.
SURYA PRATAP – FOUNTAIN GATE
37 wickets at 9.38, 3 x five-wicket hauls
There’s every chance the Fountain Gate spinner could claim a whopping 24 votes between rounds six and nine.
His bowling figures during that period read as follows; 6/12, 7/17, 4/22 and 6/22 in a period where the Gators won three of those four contests.
A new face on the DDCA scene this summer, the left-arm finger spinner came with big expectations and has lived up to the hype, having led the competition’s leading wicket-taker list for much of the summer.
Don’t be surprised if he is around the mark when the count comes to a close.
