ST MARY’S-TYNTYNDER CRICKET CLUB – 2022-23 SEASON PREVIEW
SHDCA FAST FACTS
PRESIDENT – Sean White
A-GRADE CAPTAIN – Nathaniel Holmes-Brown
SENIOR COACH – Nathaniel Holmes-Brown
LAST A-GRADE PREMIERSHIP – 2019-20
2021-22 FINISH – Semi Finalist
LEADING RUN SCORER – Riley Daniels – 235 runs @ 29.38
LEADING WICKET TAKER – Dom Violi – 22 wickets @ 8.91
SEASON PREVIEW
While Meat Loaf may have once sung two out of three ain’t bad, St Mary’s-Tyntynder will be hoping to go one better when the 2022-23 SHDCA A Grade season kicks off this weekend.
The Bulldogs claimed both short format trophies last season, winning the McDonald’s T20 and Kookaburra Cup competitions, before falling short in the longer 50-over format with a disappointing loss to Nyah District in the Semi Finals.
While the finish to their year may have not been the end they were hoping for, there’s no doubting St Mary’s certainly have the talent to go all the way this season.
While the bulk of their playing list will remain the same, there will be a change at the very top, with Nathaniel Holmes-Brown to take on the role of captain-coach, with both Jack Shannahan and Austin McKerrow stepping down from their jointly held role.
It will be Holmes-Brown’s first attempt as skipper of an A Grade team, with the opening bowler and natural leader looking forward to the season ahead and the prospect of leading the Bulldogs to the promised land come March.
“We’ve got a good group of guys which makes life easier as captain, everyone’s on the same wavelength and we’re all striving for the same goal, which makes it easier,” Holmes-Brown said.
“We’ll have pretty much the same team as last season – we’ve kept the core of last year’s team together thankfully which should see us be thereabouts again.
“We all get along really well, both on the field and off it, and I suppose having basically the same team again this year will hopefully only gel us together even more.”
With some of the most talented and naturally gifted cricketers in their side, the Bulldogs have long been one of the SHDCA’s toughest sides to beat.
Their batting line-up, led by Jack Shannahan, Riley Daniels, Jake Foster, Bailey Codling and Corey Daniels is capable of scoring big runs each week – and score them very quickly – while with the ball, it’s Holmes-Brown, Daniels and Dom Violi who regularly do the damage.
With such depth at their disposal with both bat and ball, it’s easy to see why Holmes-Brown is extremely confident of his team’s chances this season.
“Our biggest strength this year will probably be with the bat I think,” Holmes-Brown said.
“We’ve got so many talented batters that it’s really tough to nail down what our best order will be – we have as many as five or six guys who could all open or come in at first drop and that will mean guys who should be in the top order will be coming in later on.”
“Hopefully our depth with the bat will see us be able to put a more consistent score on the board and go to another level this year, which was perhaps what hurt us a bit in the later half of last season.”
“Over the last couple of seasons’, we haven’t had to worry too much about our bowling, which is a positive – we’re a pretty settled line-up and we’ve probably got five or six guys who can all take the ball and do some damage at any given time.”
While it’s well known what St Mary’s-Tyntynder’s senior players bring to the table – one player who could well be on the verge of a breakout season is youngster Charlie King, who showed glimpses of his undoubted talent with both bat and ball early last season before injury cruelled his season. It was perhaps no coincidence that when King went out of the side, the Bulldogs form started to crack – but with the young all-rounder fit and raring to go in 2022-23, Holmes-Brown was expecting big things from King.
“He’s (Charlie King) body’s maturing and he’s improving with every year – but perhaps his biggest upside is with his cricket smarts and his ability to read the situation of a game,” Holmes-Brown said.
“He’s a good batter and bowler and whether that’s opening in either discipline, we know exactly what we’re going to get from him – based off his form from last year we’re expecting him to take another big step forward and really complement some of our more experienced guys with both bat and ball.”
WORD FROM THE CAPTAIN
NATHANIEL HOLMES-BROWN
“We’ve been pretty successful for a number of years now – we’d like to go one step further and win all three this year though.”
“We’ve been one of the better sides for the last three or four years but we just haven’t been able to win that red ball grand final, which will be our main aim this year.”
PLAYER TO WATCH
Corey Daniels – One of the best all-rounders in the competition and definitely one of the best opening bowlers. Formed one half of the potent opening partnership alongside new skipper Holmes-Brown and will be looking to terrorise opposition top orders once again in season 2022-23. On his day is one of the hardest hitting and most damaging batsman going around.
INS – Nil
OUTS – Nil
