CTPL MEN’S SEASON PREVIEW 2023-24
University of Tasmania could well be haunted by the loss in last season’s Cricket Tasmania Premier League grand final, but the Lions coach insists the club has moved on from that heartbreak.
In what is expected to be another tough, competitive, highly-skilled CTPL season, the Lions will be out for redemption.
Uni stormed into the finals in all three competitions, making two deciders but could only secure the T20 title.
However, it was the loss in the grand final of the red-ball competition that won’t be easily forgotten.
The Lions had Lindisfarne on the ropes in the first innings at 9-153 only for Lightning captain Charlie Wakim (215) and playing-coach Matt Wilkie (52 not out) to put on 200 for the last wicket to take the game and the championship cup away from Uni.
Uni coach Damien Wright said many lessons were learned at Blundstone Arena during that final, but now it was about the future.
“We’ve moved on from that grand final loss last year,” Wright said.
“We will certainly learn from last season’s efforts and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes this year.
“We made the finals in all formats and were successful in the T20 only.”
He said that last wicket partnership that turned the game had not been spoken about this preseason.
“Most of the team that played in the match last year have either been away interstate or playing overseas,” he said.
“Preseason for us has been focused on areas we need to improve on and focus on our younger players getting better.”
Uni will again be strong with former Test captain Tim Paine to play when available, but the Lions have lost hard-hitting batter Sam Harbinson.
Lindisfarne, buoyed by the incredible red ball win, also has unfinished business, having been defeated in the T20 and Kookaburra Cup one-day grand finals by Uni and North Hobart respectively.
The Lightning still has a richly talented side but its depth could be tested with the loss of Ben McDermott to Queensland, and last season’s leading run-scorer Mac Wright and captain Charlie Wakim looking to cement their spots in the Tigers first XI.
Playing-coach Matt Wilkie said it would be a new look side this year trying to defend its title.
“This season is a bit of a reset for the playing group - losing a few players means some younger talented players get a chance,” Wilkie said.
“We will have to wait and see if this group can repeat what we did last season.”
Clarence will be looking to return to finals actions and may have picked up the recruit of the season in Kieran Elliott.
Elliott helped the Melbourne Cricket Club to the Victorian Premier League title by taking an impressive 46 wickets at under 20 runs each with his pace and has come to the Roos looking to smash his way into the Tasmanian side.
Glenorchy’s rebuild continues under captain-coach Josh Hartill. Importantly, the Magpies have picked up opening batter Alex Wynwood from Ulverstone to strengthen its top order.
New Town has retained its core that took it to its draught breaking premiership two seasons ago and has replaced retired stalwart Tawanda Mupariwa with Sydney pace bowler Caelan Maladay, who played second XI for NSW last year.
Kingborough will be looking to bounce back into finals contention under new playing-coach Thomas Martyn and a couple of familiar names have returned to the Knights in Trent Rollins and Riley Backhouse alongside former South Australian opening batter Jake Weatherald, when not playing for the Tigers.
The Greater Northern Raiders will again bring the pride of the North to Southern cricket grounds and will be looking to Westbury run machine Dan Murfet and its talented youth to lead it back up the ladder.
However, the Raiders will have to do so without their second highest run-scorer last season in John Hayes and equal third most dangerous bowler in James Beattie.
South Hobart-Sandy Bay welcomes back one of its favourite sons in gifted batter Sean Willis as the Sharks try to cover the loss of experienced duo Tom Andrews and Eamon Vines.
Instead of a single head coach, the Sharks will be led by an experienced coaching panel, made up of former Tigers coach Richard Allanby, former Tasmanian chairman of selectors Michael Farrell and club legend Chris Gulline.
North Hobart made the finals in all three formats, making it to the Kookaburra Cup where it walked away as the CTPL’s best 50-over side.
The Demons bowling attack remains its strength, led by Iain Carlisle who earned Tigers selection on the back of 41 wickets at just 17 runs each, and if North Hobart can get more runs with the bat, should be right in contention again.
CLARENCE
Last year: Fifth
Coach: Harry Allanby
Captain: Michael Jones
Major ins: Kieran Elliott (Melbourne Cricket Club), Connor O’Brien (Kingborough), Tom Murrell (Lindisfarne)
Major outs: Zac Elliott (Fitzroy), Clint Hinchliffe (Western Australia), Justin Galeotti (Greenvale), Joel Size (South Australia)
Coach says: “Whilst we lost some top cricketers over the off season we are confident the youthful playing group will grab the opportunities that arise and shape the way forward for this club.”
Player to watch: Kieran Elliott - Elliot joins the Roos on the back of a terrific season with the Melbourne Cricket Club where he took over 40 wickets and was a key player in their premiership side. He has come down to pursue higher cricketing opportunities and will be a strong leader around Clarence.
GLENORCHY
Last year: Ninth
Coach: Josh Hartill
Captain: Josh Hartill
Major ins: Braden Taeuber (Dandenong) Alex Wynwood ((Ulverstone) James Bowen (Ringwood)
Major outs: Nil
Coach says: “With the continued development of our younger players, excellent player retention and some selective recruiting, I feel we will challenge for a spot in the finals in all formats this season. Our fast-bowling unit will be a strength this season and recruiting Alex to open the batting has added depth to our top order.”
Player to watch: Nick Davis – showed great leadership, maturity, and skill with the bat last season in all formats. Fully fit and bowling this season, Glenorchy feels he is set for a breakout season and will be pushing for selection at the next level.
GREATER NORTHERN RAIDERS
Last year: Eighth
Coach: Alistair Taylor
Captains: Charlie Eastoe (red ball) and Alistair Taylor (white ball)
Major ins: Daniel Murfet (Westbury)
Major outs: John Hayes (Mowbray), James Beattie (year off)
Coach says: “We’ve got a new look team this season. Clinton Reid as the batting coach has been fantastic with the group and we’ve brought in some of the young up and coming players in the North of the state. We’ve had a focus on playing your game and being confident to execute with bat and ball, whilst still looking for consistency within the group. We are looking to the senior players to help lead and guide the younger players we are blooding; we strive to be leaders in performance and wellbeing, and we think we have the team to achieve that.”
Player to watch: Aidan O’Connor and Sam Omahony - both lads have been bowling the house down and hitting the ball extremely hard. Coach Alistair Taylor expects both to play a big part in all formats of the game.
KINGBOROUGH
Last year: Seventh
Coach: Thomas Martyn
Captain: Dylan Hay
Major ins: Jake Weatherald (SA), Trent Rollins (Kingston Crows), Riley Backhouse (injury)
Major outs: Anthony Adlam (SA), Nikethan Rahdakrishnan (University of Tasmania), Connor O’Brien (Clarence), Jackson Bird (NSW)
Coach says: “We’ve had a complete coaching restructure with the key additions of club great Eric Monaghan, and ex New Town and Zimbabwean International Tawanda Mupariwa as senior assistant coaches, to assist me in my first year in the head role. We have had a terrific preseason based on us as a group identifying and lifting the standards we hold ourselves to. As a coaching group we have established unwavering effort-based values as key drivers for our improvement along with focusing on a positive growth mindset and process driven approach to our games and training. This has us looking to earn the respect of the competition and ultimately be a really hard team to come up against throughout the season. We have a talented group in their late teens and early 20s who along with our experienced players are ready to play their role in season 2023-24”.
Player to watch: Zac Curtain – has had a full preseason as a part of the Emerging Tigers Program with Cricket Tasmania and looks to be ready to take the next step as a 1st grade cricketer. Curtain has now got 15 games of experience under his belt, along with a match winning century in a second grade semi-final last year. The Knights look forward to seeing him in their top order throughout season 2023-24.
LINDISFARNE
Last year: First
Coach: Matt Wilkie
Captain: Mac Wright
Major ins: Harshtik Bimbral (NT)
Major outs: Ben McDermott (QLD), Tom Murrell (Clarence), Abdul Haseeb (overseas)
Coach says: “I think it (last season’s grand final win) has been huge in reinforcing our mentality that we need good consistent output throughout the round games, to get ourselves into finals - because anything can happen in finals if we back ourselves. We also lost two finals last season, as long as we put ourselves in those situations and learn then we will get better at backing ourselves when we get there. It is an exciting year for our young players who have shown glimpses of great stuff. This year will be a real opportunity for a lot of players to stand up and lead.”
Player to watch: Will Sanders - has had a season adapting to Tassie conditions now, and a big preseason. Coach Matt Wilkie is predicting Sanders will produce some very consistent results with bat and ball this season.
NEW TOWN
Last year: Fourth
Coach: Peter Di Venuto
Captain: Mitchell Owen
Major ins: Caelan Maladay (Sydney)
Major outs: Tawanda Mupariwa (retired)
Coach says: “We’ve had a much shorter preseason than previous seasons, but many senior players had been doing their own work individually or in small groups. It’s pleasing to see the growth of players taking ownership of their own games and driving standards. We will continue to see more improvement from the young players that have come into the team in the past two or three seasons. We are also expecting that our captain Mitch Owen will play more consistent games for Tasmania providing opportunities for others. As our young players become more consistent in their performance, we believe we will be right in the hunt come the end of the season to play finals again.”
Player to watch: Jesse Willmott – made his debut as a spin bowler, but coach Peter Di Venuto has always felt his batting will be what eventually becomes his primary skill. He showed glimpses last season and the Bucks are looking forward to some exponential growth in this space. His bowling in shorten formats will again be important and New Town is looking forward to further improvement in his two-day cricket.
NORTH HOBART
Last year: Third
Coach: Richard Cowlard
Co-Captains: Tom Rogers & Jack White
Major ins: Connor Shorten (Overseas), Nathan Hangan (Darwin), Ben Fraser (return from injury)
Major outs: Daniel Walker (Overseas), Jack Callinan
Coach says: “We’ve had a terrific preseason. I am looking forward to seeing several players take the opportunity to showcase their talent while our state players are away. Our bowling has a lot of depth and if we can be consistent with the bat, I believe we will be in a good position at the end of the season.
Player to watch: Aiden Bariol – Bariol played his first season in Tasmania last year and showed tremendous talent. Bariol is a wicketkeeper-batsman who has potential to take games away from the opposition. He will play a crucial role in helping North Hobart’s quest to reach the finals.
SOUTH HOBART-SANDY BAY
Last year: Seventh
Coach: Richard Allanby
Captain: Gabe Bell
Major ins: Sean Willis (year off), Caleb Oakes.
Major outs: Tom Andrews (SA), Eamon Vines (Victoria)
Coach says: “We’ve had a terrific preseason and the club will give opportunities to our talented youth cricketers. Sean Willis returning is a huge bonus for our group as he is an experienced player and proven run scorer. Our younger players will be given an opportunity at times to perform up the grades and gain valuable experience. We have a genuine belief that these younger players are developing nicely and that they will play a huge role in the club’s future. New club captain Gabe Bell will lead the bowling attack when available and will nurture our young pace bowlers. Obviously losing Andrews and Vines will have an impact but it will allow others to step up and fill that void.
Player to watch: Tom Willoughby - Left hand top order batsman with a highest score of 180. Willoughby will be looking to have a more consistent run scoring season and will also get more opportunities with the ball. Good tactically - a reason why the Sharks have elevated him to vice-captain of the club.
UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA
Last year: Second
Coach: Damien Wright
Captain: Param Uppal
Major ins: Paddy Dooley (Western Suburbs QLD), Nikethan Radhakrishnan (Kingborough)
Major outs: Sam Harbinson (Ireland), Bailey Kenzie (Gold Coast), Noah Van der Werken (Brisbane)
Coach says: “We’ve lost a couple of key players in Harbinson and Bailey, but this gives others the opportunity to step up. Louis Smith is a terrific young all-rounder who will play a huge role in our team when back from injury. Our bowling looks strong again with Tim Oakley and Mo Rizvi leading the way. Param Uppal will be looking to have a big season with plenty of runs and wickets. Zac Phair and Tom Chapman are two really talented young players, and we will need them to step up why our state boys are away. Brad Hope, Tim Ward, Paddy Dooley and Jake Doran when playing with us make us a very strong side again for this upcoming season.”
Player to watch: Zac Phair - played some good cricket for the Lions in the Kookaburra Cup and T20 formats last year. Uni is now looking for him to play with that same intent during all formats going forward. He can hit the ball hard and the Lions are keen for him to get them away to good starts this season.