THE 2022-23 Swan Hill District Cricket Association season concluded on Saturday, with St Mary’s Tyntynder winning their first A Grade grand final since 2004-05.
With the dust settled, The Guardian takes a look back at how each club’s season went.
St Mary’s Tyntynder
Final position – Premiers
Most runs – Corey Daniels (381)
Most wickets – Nathaniel Holmes-Brown (47)
Best player – All-rounder Corey Daniels had a fantastic year. An average of 34.64 with the bat and 12.85 with the ball shows how vital a quality all-rounder is to any side.
What went right – The Saints had 11 players in their side every week who were A Grade cricketers, even though they didn’t have their best team in until semi-final day. They proved they had the best depth in the competition throughout the season.
What went wrong – Not a lot. The one blemish in 2022-23 for the Saints was their 56-run defeat in the T20 grand final.
Wandella
Final position – Runners-up
Most runs – Gregory Dickson (443)
Most wickets – Ryan Barnes (32)
Best player – Bohden McKnight announced himself to the SHDCA in the back half of the season after being moved to No.5 in the batting order. He was one of their more consistent batters in their late-season run and can now be classed as a genuine all-rounder with his 29 wickets this season.
What went right – The back half of the season was excellent from the Bombers. Heading into the grand final, they had won six on the trot and were deservedly the challengers to the Saints on the big day.
What went wrong – Their grand final performances against the Saints. They were beaten comfortably twice by the Saints in two grand finals this season.
Nyah District
Final position – 3rd
Most runs – Joel Walsh (457)
Most wickets – Joel Walsh (37)
Best player – A pretty simple one. Joel Walsh was the Demons’ best bat and bowler all season. This saw him take out the league’s best and fairest and most valuable player on presentation night.
What went right – The Demons didn’t leave the season completely empty. They won the T20 competition in an upset over the Saints to, at the time, hold all three SHDCA format trophies.
What went wrong – The Demons went into their semi-final against the red-hot Bombers in average form. They lost two of their three final games, with the win being against bottom-of-the-table Swan Hill.
RSL
Final position – 4th
Most runs – Ryan Hinton (616)
Most wickets – Cameron Cook (20)
Best player – Ryan Hinton. The seasoned veteran once again proved he was one of the competition’s premier batsmen, winning the league batting average and scoring 150 runs more than than the next best.
What went right – Their second half of the season was excellent. They stormed into finals with a 4-2 record post-Christmas.
What went wrong – The first half of the season. The Blues headed into Christmas winless, forcing themselves to need to be near-perfect upon resumption.
Woorinen
Final position – 5th
Most runs – Cooper Fox (325)
Most wickets – Dylan Smythe (22)
Best player – English off-spinner Dylan Smythe’s performances post-Christmas led to his inclusion in the SHDCA A Grade team of the year. In three games between rounds 9 and 13, he took 15 wickets.
What went right – The Tigers’ batting was strong for the majority of the season and made up for their shortcomings with the ball.
What went wrong – While their batting saved them in some contests, the Tigers struggled all season to keep their opposition down to low totals.
Ultima TUF
Final Position – 6th
Most runs – Kyle Symons (407)
Most wickets – Cassidy Sibley (25)
Best player – Opening batsman Kyle Symons had a career-best season in 2022-23, averaging 37 with the bat. His 138 not out against RSL, while not in a winning side, was one of the knocks of the season.
What went right – The development of younger players in wicketkeeper-batsman Aydan Symons and spinner Cassidy Sibley. Sibley announced himself as a premier spinner of the competition, taking 25 wickets, while Symons had his best A Grade season with the bat, hitting 243 runs.
What went wrong – The Roos struggled to get their best side on the park all season through injury. Kade Benfield highlighted that woe with the Roos skipper missing most of the season.
Swan Hill
Final position – 7th
Most runs – Lachlan Edwards (356)
Most wickets – Ian Schodde (21)
Best player – Lachlan Edwards bounced back from a poor season last year to be the Swans’ top run-scorer in 2022-23. He was the only Swan to consistently post big scores.
What went right – Besides an outright defeat to the Saints in round 12, the Swans were competitive in every match, unlike last season, where they were trounced in most contests.
What went wrong – Losing three of their four fast bowlers – Andrew Clark, Sebastian Linssen and Alan Hatcher – after Christmas decimated a season that had earlier shown some potential for producing an unlikely finals campaign.
