Wandella Cricket Club SHDCA – Fast Facts
PRESIDENT – Luke Murray
A GRADE CAPTAIN-COACH – Greg Dickson
LAST A-GRADE PREMIERSHIP – 2014-15 (Northern District CA)
2020-21 FINISH – Preliminary Finalist (Northern District CA)
LEADING RUN SCORER – Peter Moore – 437 runs @ 39.73
LEADING WICKET TAKER – Ryan Barnes – 23 wickets @ 12.22
WANDELLA will enter their first season in the Swan Hill and District Cricket Association as the great unknown.
The Bombers finished on top of the ladder in their final season of the Northern Districts Cricket Association in both the T20 and one-day competitions, yet came away from both comps empty handed – having lost the T20 Grand Final to Leitchville-Gunbower, as well as being knocked out in the Preliminary Final by Barham-Koondrook.
Along with the change of leagues, Wandella will also have a change of skipper, with club stalwart Greg Dickson set to take the reins after the departure of 2020-21 captain Peter Moore to Nondies-Cohuna.
Moore will be a huge loss for the Bombers – and not just as their captain, but also being the leading run scorer for the Bombers last season.
His departure does however pave the way for Toby Gray, who returns to the club, to slot straight into his customary spot at the top of the order.
The Bombers have a very talented and dangerous batting line-up, particularly through the middle order, with Dickson and the reliable Rohan Oliver as the mainstays.
Brodey Farley will be one to watch, particularly in the McDonald’s T20 competition, with his aggression and big hitting ability sure to put the target on his back for opposition teams right from the get-go.
But teammates Marty McDonald, Michael Runciman and all-rounder Daniel Higgs are also more than capable of posting big scores.
Ryan Barnes is Wandella’s danger man with the ball, having taken 23 wickets at an average of 12.22 last season.
His ability to swing the ball will no doubt be a challenge for his opposition, many of whom have never faced him.
It’s expected that 16-year-old Bohden McKnight will partner Barnes with the new rock, with the youngster having developed into a solid A Grade bowler with 13 wickets in the senior’s last season.
Off-spinner Higgs will be another one to watch for the Bombers, especially with a lack of quality spin bowling in the SHDCA for a number of seasons now.
Wandella captain Greg Dickson told The Guardian this week that the excitement levels were at fever pitch around the club, with everybody anxious to get stuck into the new season – and a new challenge.
“Just coming into a new competition, it’s exciting to play against teams we’ve never played against and blokes we’ve never seen play either,” Dickson said.
“Our blokes are very excited, it’s probably something we’ve needed to do for the last three or four years now, because we’ve had heaps of younger players.
“And just for their development, we need to have some sort of structure where they can come into senior cricket and go through from C Grade right through to A Grade, and staying where we were (in the NDCA) just wasn’t going to enable us to do that.”
Although the Bombers – and Dickson – will be keen to make an early impression on their new league by putting wins on the board, the club is still taking a long-term view.Not only for their juniors to develop, but also to show they’ve made the right move by travelling north.
“The main thing for us at the moment is to just have a good first season, and hopefully if we do, there might be a few other guys that jump on board,” Dickson said.
“There’s a few blokes that are a still a bit sceptical about the whole moving to the SHDCA idea, so if we can get it off the ground and go well in our first year, then hopefully a few of them might jump on board next year.”WORD FROM THE CAPTAIN
“We’re just hoping to be competitive for a start and make sure we win more games than we lose. There are no plans on coming in and trying to win the flag in our first year, although that would be ideal, we just want to be competitive at this stage and then see where that takes us.”
PLAYER TO WATCH
Brodey Farley – Was Wandella’s leading run scorer behind the outgoing Peter Moore last season, with 396 runs @ 26.40.
Aggressive middle order batsman that can make a big score regularly – and make them quick.
IN’S – Toby Gray (Returning)
OUT’S – Peter Moore (Nondies-Cohuna)
UP NEXT – WOORINEN (FRIDAY)
