THE best way to find out where you are at as a cricket club is to face-off against the best, and that’s what is ahead for Josh Berry and his Mildura East side against Mildura Settlers in round 1 of the Sunraysia Cricket Association season at Mildura Senior College today.
East captain-coach Berry has said in the past his young and developing side wanted to emulate Settlers’ long-standing success as a top side as they continue their rebuilding phase.
Today they get to see first-hand what a club that has had that sustained success looks like.
“To be able to focus on a club like that and be able to take them on head-to-head in round 1, every game is a learning curve for the boys,” Berry said.
“They are going to take great experience out of playing against guys like Richie Wyld who has been doing it for a long time, Jason Morrison, Braidyn Turner, they’ve got some quality cricketers that our boys can learn off and hopefully be able to compete very well against.”
Today marks game 1 of Mildura Settlers’ second consecutive premiership defence.
While the side has lost the likes of Luke Coates, John Pratt, Mark Cleary and Tarque Williamson there is still plenty of talent in the line-up.
Mildura West v Irymple
John Hall Oval
A GOOD start will be imperative for both these top four sides from last season.
Irymple are the 2019-20 White Ball Cup champions and have runs on the board in limited overs games, while West struck form late last season to storm into a finals berth.
There are some new but old faces in both sides with Jayden Zanoni and Rhiann O’Donnell returning for West and Nick Giofre back in the district and taking the gloves for Irymple.
Both sides have had leadership changes with Dan Coghlan and Mark Thomson co-captaining Irymple and new West coach Davison Mbindi making his debut.
Luke Hickey will also take on the captaincy of West.
Nichols Point v Merbein South
Nichols Point Reserve
NICHOLS Point’s new-look First Division side will be unveiled at home against Merbein South with four experienced club debutants selected.
Luke Coates and Matt Boyd add vital firepower with the ball while Settlers premiership wicketkeeper Tate Hulland fills former import Glen Bridson’s gloves.
Leigh Thomson-Mathews, brother of Pointers coach Shaun Mathews, is an unorthodox top order batsman who showed good form with the bat in a club internal trial.
Merbein South will have their first game under the captaincy of Matt O’Connor and will want to give their all for one of the better clubmen going around local sport.
The Saints also have a few new faces coming through, with coach Darren James aiming for his club to remain competitive in games as they blood a new generation.
Workers Gol Gol v Coomealla Wentworth
Alcheringa Oval
ACROSS the river in an all-New South Wales showdown, Workers Gol Gol should start favourites against rivals Coomealla Wentworth.
Even with the likes of Josh Deren and Jake Albrecht still in South Australia, the hosts at Alcheringa have plenty of talent all the way down the order, with 2019-20 joint Innes medallist Wade Hancock, captain-coach Adam Thomson, Shac Thomas and Nick Jensen all capable with the bat.
Lauchie Wade returns to First Division cricket as a solid young pace option, with the experienced Matt Cameron always a threat.
Kobe Smith has been selected for the Blues and his presence, coming off experience in Melbourne, is a boost for Coomealla Wentworth.
The Freeman brothers, Justin and Liam, will also have a fair turn with the ball but batting remains the question for the visitors.
They will need a solid start from the likes of Tom Douglas, which would then enable strokemakers like Bevan Wade a chance to get the score ticking over.
