By David Nagel
Six teams in the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) Premier Division have now packed away the cricket kit for another season.
We take a look at the seasons of all six clubs.
What went right and what went wrong?
KOOWEERUP (2nd)
W/L/D: 11-2-1
Best Win: Tooradin (R9)
Worst Loss: Clyde (R14)
Leading Runs: Chris Bright (650 runs)
Best Batting: Luke McMaster (190)
Leading Wickets: Adam McMaster (28)
Best Figures: Steven Dillon (5/21)
We Say:
It’s hard to knock a team that was only defeated twice throughout the season, but there were early signs that this might not be the Demons’ year.
They won their first six games easily, but were unconvincing with the bat, before hitting top form either side of Christmas against Cardinia and Tooradin.
They were thumped by Pakenham in round 10, and then conceded scores of 223 (Carlisle Park), 228 (Devon Meadows), 234 (Merinda Park) and 196 (Clyde) in their last four games to show their usual venom was not quite there with the ball.
The Demons were cruelled by injury to superstar bowler Jess Mathers, who only joined the fray in round 13 and took nine wickets in three games.
Chris Bright (650 runs) was super-consistent and a stand-out all season, while Luke McMaster (612) was brilliant at times – making 145 not out and 190 – but had an average season by his lofty standards apart from those two knocks; four of his last six hits were single figures.
Steven Dillon (458 runs and 17 wickets) was the other heavy contributor, with the big-three scoring three hundreds and 11 fifties between them.
The rest of the team could only manage two half-centuries, with Suchintha Lakshan (149), Lachie Ramage (196) and Gamini Kumara (244) having modest seasons with the willow.
The Demons played the bottom-four teams in the final four rounds; not ideal preparation for a finals tilt.
Luke McMaster was the only bowler in the league to take wickets in 12 innings during the home-and-away season, but the return was a modest 18. He took a two, three and four; but took just one wicket in nine other innings.
Season Rating: 7.2/10
CARDINIA (4th)
W/L/D: 6-7-1
Best Win: Devon Meadows (R9)
Worst Loss: Merinda Park (R14)
Leading Runs: Morteza Ali (622 runs)
Best Batting: Alex Nooy (202 not out)
Leading Wickets: Travis Wheller (31)
Best Figures: Travis Wheller (6/75)
We Say:
The Bulls rode a massive roller-coaster this season, alternatively winning and losing games all the way through to round 10. They then defeated Clyde and Carlisle Park, before losing to Pakenham and Merinda Park in the final two games of the season.
They made finals, but lost more games than they won, and didn’t defeat a fellow finals contender all season; not cracking the 200-run barrier against the top three.
Counterbalancing that, the Bulls went past the 300-run barrier three times – more than any other team in the comp – and smashed the season-high score of 3/446.
Highlights were aplenty; with Alex Nooy (202 not out), Morteza Ali (154 and 105), Travis Wheller (132 and 105) and Jacobus Hynes (109) accounting for six of the 22 tons in CCCA Premier Division this year.
But consistency was the issue, apart from those big scores.
Nooy battled – apart from his double-century (240 runs in other games) – while Hynes made 194 in two consecutive hits but then just 168 in other games.
Ali started off slowly (39 runs in three hits) but earned a huge tick of approval, while the all-round season of Wheller (536 runs and 31 wickets) rubber-stamped his claim to being one of the best players in the Premier Division.
Overall, the Bulls did well to play finals; considering the experience and talent that departed Gunton Oval at the end of the 2022/23 season.
But results clearly showed that they’re not up there with the big boys.
Season Rating: 6.4/10
DEVON MEADOWS (5th)
W/L/D: 5-8-1
Best Win: Pakenham (R6)
Worst Loss: Clyde (R10)
Leading Runs: Lucas Ligt (597)
Best Batting: Lucas Ligt (125 not out)
Leading Wickets: Lucas Carroll (21)
Best Figures: Coby Podd (5/47)
We Say:
A solid first season in Premier Division for the promoted Panthers, who cost themselves a potential finals berth by dropping games to Merinda Park (R1) and Clyde (R10).
The highlight was a three-game winning streak, either side of a draw, from rounds five to eight, which included a heart-stopping two-run win over Pakenham.
The lowlight was a five-game losing streak between rounds nine and 13, which ended their finals aspirations for good.
That win over the Lions certainly proved one thing; just how much the Panthers missed senior coach Chris Cleef this season.
Injury prone for the majority of 2023/24, the deceptive off-spinner took figures of 27-10-59-5 to underline his importance to his team.
The Panthers were rarely threatening with the new ball and will need to bolster this area of their game, with spinner Lucas Carroll (21) and medium-pacer Riley Worsteling (18) the best of the trundlers this season.
Skipper Lucas Ligt (597 runs) once again led the batting, while youngster Will Halton (461) and lefty Steven Robinson (366) were others to score a pass-mark.
Ligt had 439 runs to Christmas, including three centuries, but made just 158 at 26.33 after the break; coinciding with the Panthers’ five-game losing streak.
With 18-year-old Halton likely to try his hand at Casey South Melbourne next season, the Panthers need one or more major contributors to share the workload with Ligt.
Season Rating: 6.2/10
MERINDA PARK (6th)
W/L/D: 4-9-1
Best Win: Devon Meadows (R1)
Worst Loss: Clyde (R9)
Leading Runs: Daniel McCalman (529)
Best Batting: Daniel McCalman (161 not out)
Leading Wickets: Rumesh Ranasinghe (18)
Best Figures: Tyson Bertrand (5/26)
We Say:
The Cobras book-ended their season brilliantly, with wins over Devon Meadows and Cardinia, but two wins over Carlisle Park were the only other fruits on offer.
A two-run win over the Vikings in round-10 was huge, with a late 60 not out from Liam Bertrand saving the Cobras from being in a ‘down-to-the-wire’ battle for relegation.
The Cobras never troubled the top-four at all until Daniel McCalman (161 not out) went berserk in round 14 and still have a long way to go to catch up.
Their attack is extremely is gettable, as Travis Wheller (105 in R2), Trevor Bauer (120 in R7), Lucas Ligt (107 not out in R8), Chris Smith (210 not out in R12) and Luke McMaster (190 in R13) will all testify, with Rumesh Ranasinghe (18 wickets), Bevin Corneille (17 wickets), Tyson Bertrand (14) and Rajan Rana (10) more containers than strike weapons.
McCalman magnified his season with his magnificent century in round 14, but Cambell Bryan was the big improver with the bat, with three heavy half-centuries (89, 76* and 70) showing he has what it takes in the top-flight.
Bryan will have just turned 24 when next season begins.
Corneille (333) and Liam Bertrand (274) join McCalman (529) and Bryan (404) in getting ticks of approval for their seasons.
Season Rating: 5.8/10
CLYDE (7th)
W/L/D: 4-9-1
Best Win: Kooweerup (R14)
Worst Loss: Carlisle Park (R3)
Leading Runs: Trevor Bauer (458)
Best Batting: Trevor Bauer (120)
Leading Wickets: Daniel Lever (17)
Best Figures: Roshan Bandara (4/18)
We Say:
If there was a ladder for 2024 alone the Cougars would be playing finals, having won four of their last six; a record matched by Kooweerup and only bettered by Tooradin and Pakenham.
Started the season by falling four runs short of chasing down Pakenham in round one, then had Kooweerup 5/106, chasing 167, in round two, before Steven Dillon (82 not out) responded.
But those early performances failed to translate into wins, with a round-three loss to Carlisle Park the low-point of the season.
Were the only winless team at the Christmas break, but wins over Merinda Park, Devon Meadows, Carlisle Park…and Kooweerup in round 14…saved the Cougars from relegation.
So, what changed after the break?
Trevor Bauer continued his form, which saw him make 458 for the season, while others decided to jump on board.
Brett Reid made 204 of his 281 runs in the last six games, a theme carried on by Michael Vandort (183 of 286) and Teddy Fonseka (172 of 307), while the inclusion of Nick Miles – 193 of 210 – also added stability.
The Cougars also became more dangerous with the ball, claiming three-and-four-wicket hauls more often.
List balance is going to be crucial for the Cougars going forward; the only team with an average age of over 30 (31.18) in Premier Division.
Season Rating: 5.8/10
CARLISLE PARK (8th)
W/L/D: 1-12-1
Best Win: Clyde (R3)
Worst Loss: Merinda Park (R5)
Leading Runs: Ben Perry (437)
Best Batting: Senal De Silva (79)
Leading Wickets: Jaan Balasuriya (23)
Best Figures: Jaan Balasuriya (6/56)
We Say:
Had their moments the Vikings but couldn’t sustain pressure for long enough periods of time.
Combined for only 10 half centuries for the season, and the best of those was a 79 from Senal De Silva…batting at seven!
We shouldn’t be surprised with the batting output, with 921 runs walking out the door (Shalika Karunanayake 461, Teddy Fonseka 460) in the pre-season.
Skipper Ben Perry did his best to fill the void, making four of those 10 fifties (77, 60, 59 and 57), with De Silva, Hasintha Jayasuriya and Kasun Balasuriya making two each.
Balasuriya made eight scores of 20 or more but only two of those were converted; they could do it well enough…but not for long enough.
The batting got better in the last four games, with all scores over 200; but they leaked runs like a sieve.
In the last three games the Vikings conceded 3/446, 315 and 5/355.
The shining light was a win over Clyde in round three; but a lack of consistency is not surprising considering the Vikings played 24 players this season.
The next highest was Merinda Park on 20, while the top-three teams all used 16.
Perry (437 runs and 14 wickets) and Jaan Balasuriya (23 wickets) can hold their heads high.
Season Rating: 4.4/10
Note: Season ratings are based on five categories: Batting – Bowling – Consistency/Competitiveness – Big Moments – Expectations.
