THE 2009/2010 Albany Cricket Association will get under way this Saturday with cricketers from nine different clubs taking part in the competition.
The A Grade competition will have six teams, while the addition of Narrikup and The Warriors bolsters the B Grade competition to 10.
Manypeaks will once again field two sides in the B Grade and Veterans will be back.
The season will consist of 15 fixtures in the A Grade and 16 in the B Grade with a one-match grand final replacing the old best-of-three series.
Collingwood Park will be chasing a slice of history as they search for a fifth consecutive title.
Captain Chad Hitchcock believes his side is ready for another shot at the premiership.
“We have a very similar side this year with no real recruits,” he said.
“Just like last year, we will try and get through while we are a bit thin, and have a tilt at the finals again when we get a bit stronger.”
The Park will again look to a solid top order to produce some winning scores.
Adam Mayes and Craig Sims will join Hitchcock in the search for runs while Tim Pyle (knee injury) and Nathan Dovey (work) are expected to bolster the line-up in the new year.
Hayden Burling was outstanding with the ball last season and along with veterans Daryl Robinson and Craig Doncon, should offer plenty to the side.
Last season’s runners-up North County have a rejuvenated line-up with the addition of some exciting youngsters.
Captain Craig Tonkin welcomes back brothers Nick and Dylan Parry and Toby Woods to the Bulldogs from Royals while former Blue Brent Welshman and Cranbrook seamer Stewart Reid also make the move.
North County will again ....rely on Tonkin for the majority of their runs but they also have Graham Weinert, Gary McGlade and Chris Pumphrey capable of producing big scores.
Jim Darmody, Dave Warren and Todd Wilson are missing from the side and Tonkin is unsure whether Lee Sounness will front up at County.
“We are hoping ‘Leroy’ comes down for a hit, as he is one of our marquee players,” Tonkin said.
“Hopefully we have that bit of experience and we can teach the youngsters enough during the season by the time it gets to the business end.”
Royals finished third last season and, according to new skipper Andrew Hagnhofer, another finals appearance will be their aim.
The former Railways captain will join Wayne Harrington, Gavin Morgan and Rohan Quain in the Royals upper order, while medium-pacer Ian Boxall and leg-spinner Dylan Morgan will lead their bowling attck.
The Blues have lost four players to North County as well as Daniel Alford and English import Nitesh Patel but have gained the services of former North County seamer Daniel Wiseman and youngster Brodie Ashwell from Perth.
“We have been training for a while and are looking forward to the season,” Hagnhofer said.
“It will be hard to gauge anyone’s form at this stage, but we will look to get to full strength in the coming weeks.”
Manypeaks were unceremoniously bundled out of last season’s finals but skipper Ryan Kinnear was happy with his side’s preparation coming into the season opener.
“We have added former Joondalup all-rounder Brad Davidson and top order batsman Don Munley from Toodyay into our side which will give us that bit of steel we lacked a bit late last year,” Kinnear said.
“We are also blooding some youngsters like Chris Metcalf and left-arm leg-spinner Shayne Wornes who are both very good cricketers.”
Cam Smith departs the Peaks while Bryce Durack is still recovering from a broken leg sustained during the football season.
Railways missed the finals last season and, as well as Hagnhofer, have lost Jeremy Woods to Scarborough.
Bowler Simon Duncan comes into the side along with returning batsman Paul Cousins, which captain Sam Newbury believes will give his side “some level heads”.
They also boast young talent Ben Saunders, Matt Clothier and last year’s Under 21 Cricketer of the Year Julian Crudelli.
“We don’t know how we will fit in relation to the rest of the competition, but we will see how we shape up after a few rounds,” Newbury said.
Denmark were winless last season and will desperately need to find numbers if they are to have an impact.
Senior players Peter Ross, Simon Winch and Brett Dell will spearhead their line-up which also boasts a number of youngsters looking to improve their cricket.
ACA President Terry Eaton said he was very happy the way things were taking shape in the lead-up to the season.
“We will all be on the hard wickets this week but hopefully the turfs are ready to go for round two,” he said.
“We are excited about the season ahead and look forward to some good cricket being played.”
In Round 1, Royals play North County on Hard North, Railways play Manypeaks on Hard Central and Collingwood Park play host to Denmark. B Grade fixtures will be confirmed later in the week.
- Daniel Wiseman.
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