Standing from left: At the Casey-South Melbourne presentation night are club president Graham Yallop, Luke Chapple, Casey mayor Colin Butler, Troy Knights, Barry Wyatt, Nathan Hibbins, Braydon Moscript, Sunny Srinvasan, Marc Ferne, assistant coach John Hayes, Lukas Hoogenboom, Craig Entwistle, Michael Hansen, Jason Gwilt. Front: Robbie Elston and Mark Jones.By Marc McGowan
CASEY-SOUTH Melbourne’s presentation night threw up few surprises as Craig Entwistle’s dream season received an exclamation point when he took out the Jim Meehan Shield at the City of Casey’s Council Chambers on Saturday night.
Meehan was a lower XI player and captain during the 1920s and was on the committee between 1933 and 1976, serving as club president for 23 years.
The award recognises the champion first XI player and is decided on a system whereby points are allocated for runs, catches, assisted and unassisted wickets, and run-outs.
Entwistle, 31, pipped outgoing Swans captain-coach Roger Sillence with 172.5 points to 170 in front of 70 guests, including Casey mayor Colin Butler, with all-rounder Lucas van Raay finishing a distant third with 124.
It mirrored the order from last week’s Jack Ryder Medal, where Entwistle (20 votes) was his club’s highest vote-getter ahead of Sillence (19) and van Raay (18).
The former belted a near-record 822 runs for the season at a rate of 54.8 to clearly be his side’s best and most consistent batsman, while also snaring a handy 13 wickets at an average of 32.5.
Entwistle was also named in the Victorian Premier Cricket team of the season at the Cricket Victoria Gala Awards held at the Grand Hyatt last week.
Other major winners included Lukas Hoogenboom (most promising player), Marc Ferne (most improved player), Luke Chapple (best under-18 player) and Jason Gwilt (best clubman).
Wicketkeeper Robbie Elston was also acknowledged for his record-breaking season where he claimed 44 victims – 38 catches and six stumpings – as he broke Phil Kingston’s mark of 39 from the 1991-92 season.
