Left: It was a frustrating Victorian Premier Cricket season for Casey-South Melbourne and promising all-rounder Reuben Wakefield.By Marc McGowan
THE fallout from Casey-South Melbourne’s disappointing Victorian Premier Cricket season is yet to be fully realised, but there will definitely be at least one major change to key personnel.
Captain Michael Hansen has stepped down from his post and the club advertised head coach John Hayes’ position this month.
Hayes is weighing up his future and is yet to decide whether to reapply for the position.
There was a significant clean-out of players after the 2006-07 season and there could be more departures to come.
Only English recruit Chris Benham – whose future at the club is yet to be confirmed – and veteran bladesman Craig Entwistle averaged more than 30 runs, and there is much work to be done to improve this department.
Australian under-19 representative Clive Rose was next-best with the willow, averaging a tick under 30 with the bat, and was economical with the ball.
His selection in the underage national squad was clearly the Swans’ highlight.
But the consistent lack of runs was a major issue and there appears little respite on the horizon outside of recruiting a couple of established batsmen.
The Wakefield twins, Reuben and Max, will improve Casey-South Melbourne next season as they will be free of private school commitments.
Reuben is an impressive top-order batsman and handy medium-fast bowler, while Max managed to usurp Robbie Elston as the side’s number-one gloveman in his limited appearances.
Elston’s batting surge in the second half of the season in Max’s absence shows he is ready to step up after his demotion, but the teenager is the future.
Hansen suffered through a miserable year with the bat – managing a highest score of only 44 – and others that need to lift are Tim Dale, Brett Watkins and the talented Luke Chapple.
All-rounder Luke van Raay can be excused after only resuming from a hernia operation after Christmas.
Lukas Hoogenboom has become the Swans’ strike bowler, but faded the longer the season went after a withering start.
He finished with a team-leading 29 wickets, enough to earn him a training session with the state squad, but can still be erratic at times and needs to keep his emotions in check.
Evergreen quick Matthew Hawking endured a luckless summer, but was his usual reliable self.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Rose is a state player in waiting and will be even better next season, and Entwistle’s off-spinners netted him 10 wickets.
A host of all-rounders had the odd match where they flashed their potential and if this group, including van Raay, Reuben Wakefield, Dale and Watkins, can take the next step, bowling may be a strength of Casey-South Melbourne’s in coming years.
Teenage leg-spinner Aaron Daniel also showed some promising signs before glandular fever cut his season short.
Gippsland fast bowler Clinton Perrin played once in the second XI, snaring three wickets, and may play in the firsts from round one next season.
But while there are positives, including the club’s run to the semi-finals in the Twenty20 competition, the fact is that the Swans wound up the Premier Cricket season third from bottom and are still a long way from being competitive against the top sides.
The patch in the middle of the season where Casey-South Melbourne got on a roll showed that the players are capable, but doing it over an entire season is the big challenge.
“As with any side, when a team is trying to build up and be successful, you can’t have injuries and unavailability,” Hansen said.
“We’ve shown that when we have a full side we can play really well, and maybe if the club is able to get another one or two players on top of a fully available playing list, we might be okay.”
Hansen acknowledged he had a poor year with the bat, but felt he has burdened with too many roles and revealed he found the last part of the season “stressful”.
“The last few games, getting bowled out for 80 twice – it was stressful and zapped pretty much all the enthusiasm out of the game,” he said.
“We were decimated by injury and unavailability, but to finish off on a positive note in the last game was good.”
