By Marcus Uhe
CASEY SOUTH MELBOURNE
2022-23 Finish: 10th
Coach: Will Carr
Captain: Luke Shelton
Ins: Yash Pednekar (Richmond), Afzal Ahmed, Rahul Rajeshbabu
Outs: nil
Players to watch: Harrish Kannan, Yash Pednekar, Harry Hoekstra
Home ground: Casey Fields 4
Batting depth and a new wave of quality quicks has incoming Casey South Melbourne captain Luke Shelton bullish about his Swans’ prospects in the upcoming Victorian Premier Cricket season.
A number of close losses and the ascension of Ash Chandrasinghe and Ruwantha Kellapotha within the Victorian system saw the Swans miss the finals in 2022-23, after falling four wickets short of claiming the premiership in the 2021-22 season in the decider against Carlton.
But Shelton is encouraged by what he’s seen in the preseason from his group, with a few younger names in-particular catching his eye.
Yash Pednaker is the major inclusion, a prodigious batting talent and Casey local that will slot nicely into the nucleus at the top of the order alongside fellow rising star Harrish Kannan.
While the addition of some talented seam bowlers to support Jackson Fry and Nathan Lambden gives Shelton a smorgasbord of options to throw the ball to.
17-year-old left-armer Harry Howkstra offers raw skill and pace, and coupled with inclusions Afzal Ahmed and Rahul Rajeshbabu, there’s plenty to trouble opposition batters with.
“We’ve still got a few things to work out with what side we go in with in round one, but I think our fast bowling group, speaking to some guys at the club, they reckon it’s the best it’s ever been and I agree,” Shelton said.
“It’s definitely the best since I’ve been there and the two (incoming) quicks, one took five wickets in the twos in a practice game and (Ahmed) played with me in the Saturday-Sunday game, and he bowls pretty fast for a short guy, and he’s got really good skills.
“We’ve also got Evan Allaway still in the wings, Devlin Webb, these guys that have played a bit of first 11 cricket and now with adding Harry, we’ve probably gone from having minimal choices to now, there’s probably six or seven guys that I could happily pick in the side, and it filters through the grades.”
The captaincy role will not be a new experience for Shelton, having earned his stripes in the position for a number of sides across the country.
He and Will Carr’s vision for what their side can produce has crystallised over a successful preseason, with round one against Dandenong a chance to make amends for a result that still haunts them 12 months on.
“We just want to be brave and positive and play really good cricket, and everyone really brought in to that this preseason, the way we trained and played over the last couple of weeks.
“I think if we can really back ourselves and play really positively, that’s the way I want to captain so I think that’s the way we’re going to head.
“I’d like to think we’ve got most bases covered with the squad.
“The team may change depending on the format because we’ve got such good depth now, but two-day cricket I’m looking forward to the most and seeing how we go throughout the year.
“I think adding a little bit more depth to our bowlers as well is going to strengthen us up and make us a pretty hard team to beat.”
Fixture:
Round 1 (one day): Saturday 7 October v Dandenong (H)
Round 2 (two day): Saturday 14 and Saturday 21 October v Greenvale
Round 3 (two day): Saturday 28 October and Saturday 4 November v Camberwell (A)
Round 4 (two day): Saturday 11 and 18 November v Kingston Hawthorn (H)
Round 5 (two day): Saturday 25 and 26 November v Essendon (A)
Round 6 (one day): Saturday 2 December v St Kilda (A)
Round 7 (one day): Saturday 9 December v Fitzroy Doncaster (A)
Round 8 (T20): Saturday 16 December v Melbourne (A)
Round 9 (T20): Saturday 16 December v Prahran (A)
Round 10 – Bye
Round 11 (T20): Saturday 6 January v Ringwood (H)
Round 12 – Bye
Round 13 (T20): Saturday 6 January v Frankston Peninsula (H)
Round 14 (one day): Saturday 13 January v Carlton (A)
Round 15 (one day): Saturday 20 January v Geelong (H)
Round 16 (two day): Saturday 27 and 28 January v Northcote (A)
Round 17 (two day) Saturday 3 and 10 February v Melbourne University (A)
Round 18 (two day): Saturday 17 and 24 February v Footscray (H)
