Rounds 1-5 2009-10

KOOKABURRA PREMIER CRICKET

Cricket Victoria is delighted to welcome Kookaburra Sport as Premier Cricket's major sponsor for the next three seasons at least. Kookaburra has been a great supporter of Premier Cricket for many years, but has taken the next step as naming rights sponsor for Premier Cricket, also incorporating the Premier Twenty20 competition.

All Premier Clubs will benefit from the sponsorship, which includes a substantial cash component as well as product.

In the short time since joining Cricket Victoria as Sponsorship and Marketing Manager, Shaun Richardson has also obtained an excellent deal for clubs through Coca-Cola Australia as well as retaining the highly valued association with Primary Edge Sports as our preferred supplier of quality apparel.

GROUNDS & RESCHEDULING

Most Premier Clubs have now had their main ovals transformed to drought-tolerant summer grasses. As a result, there will hopefully not be the same demand on Cricket Victoria's standby grounds - Harry Trott Oval in Albert Park and the two grounds at Central Reserve, Glen Waverley. There is the customary early-season demand, however, as clubs and ground managers race to repair the ravages of football in readiness for another cricket season.

WOMEN'S PREMIER CRICKET

2009/10 sees the second season of Women's Cricket under the Premier Cricket umbrella. Six teams will compete in each of the two grades, represented by eight clubs. Brighton District moves up to Premier Firsts after sharing the Seconds title with Brunswick Park last season. Monash Uni Gryphons has merged with Dandenong.

The gradings for Women's Premier Firsts and Seconds will be as follows:

Firsts	Seconds
Box Hill	Box Hill
Brighton District	Brown Hill
Brunswick Park	Brunswick Park
Bundoora-Old Paradians	Coburg
Dandenong	Dandenong
Essendon Maribyrnong Pk	Essendon Maribyrnong Pk

Following the departure of Kelly Applebee, early in the 2008-09 season, Erini Gianakopoulos has grasped the role of CV Women's Club Administrator with both hands.

Cricket Victoria will be providing Women's Premier Clubs with additional support and funding programs in 2009-10.

KOOKABURRA TWENTY20

The Kookaburra Twenty20 competition has been expanded for 2009-10 to include, for the first time, the opportunity for Seconds, Thirds and Fourths to participate.

First XIs will play four preliminary matches, compared to two in previous seasons. Other elevens will play two matches, both on main ovals as "curtain-raisers" on Sundays.

The Pennant Committee, whilst disappointed that the Premier Clubs did not embrace Twenty20 to the extent of including it as part of the season's program, is committed to the responsibility of providing Twenty20 opportunities for players at all levels of Premier Cricket. With the explosion of Twenty20 on the world scene the entire face of cricket is changing rapidly and the Pennant Committee is convinced that we must be adaptable and ready to embrace the change.

AIRTEL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

We all wish the DEC Bushrangers every success in their quest to become the best Twenty20 team in the world in this month's Airtel CLT20 tournament in India.

The DEC Bushrangers' squad comprises Cameron White (C), Jon Holland, Aaron Finch, Brad Hodge, Clint McKay, Shane Harwood, Peter Siddle, Rob Quiney, John Hastings, David Hussey, Matthew Wade, DamienWright, AndrewMcDonald, Aiden Blizzard and Bryce McGain.

NEW ADMIN MANAGERS

Two clubs have appointed new Administration Managers for 2009/10. Prahran will have John Zarb at the helm, while the Hawks have appointed Bruce Wilson. John and Bruce are no strangers to Premier Cricket. John, a former committee-member at Frankston Peninsula, has broadcast the Cricket Victoria radio show at Casey Radio for the past eighteen years, while Bruce was involved previously with Hawthorn-Monash University up until three years ago and returns after a brief break.

The appointment of Administration Managers by all Premier Clubs is funded by grants from Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria and continues to enhance the levels of professionalism in the administration of clubs.

For a list of all Club's Admin Managers click HERE

CRICKET VICTORIA AGM

Cricket Victoria's Annual General Meeting was held on Monday 31August. A Board election was required, with the retirement of Tony Steele and with Peter Warner's having to renominate. There were three nominations for the two vacancies - from Alana Duffy, Russell Thomas and Peter Warner. Following the ballot, Russell Thomas and Peter Warner were elected. Russell immediately resigned his position as Chairman of the Pennant Committee, causing a casual vacancy which is to be filled at the Delegates' meeting on October 26th.

Russell joins and Peter rejoins the following as Directors on the CV Board: Geoff Tamblyn (Chairman), Earl Eddings, Susan Crow, Jim Higgs, Paul Jackson, Trevor O'Hoy and Mal Smith.

Also at the AGM, John "Dixie" Peters was nominated for CV life membership and this was unanimously endorsed by the Delegates. Dixie's outstanding service to cricket includes long service to Essendon, firstly as a player, then as committeeman, president of the club and finally as a Delegate for nineteen years, eleven of those as a CV Pennant Committee member. In proposing the motion, CV Chairman Geoff Tamblyn advised that Dixie and his wife Val have been wonderful contributors to Cricket Victoria, Premier Cricket and the Essendon Cricket Club and that "no person is more deserving of the accolade of life membership than Dixie."

PREMIER RULES

Not much has changed in relation to Premier Cricket rules for 2009-10, but they will appear quite differently after undergoing a bit of a facelift. This will hopefully make it easier to find the appropriate rule more quickly.

PENNANT COMMITTEE

Pennant Committee Chairman for the past five years, Russell Thomas, was elected as a CV Director at the 2009 CV AGM. His election meant that Russell immediately resigned from his Pennant Committee post (members cannot serve on both bodies), causing a casual PC vacancy. Nominations were called in mid-September with a view to filling the vacancy at the Delegates' meeting on October 26. The Pennant Committee comprises five elected officials; the four currently serving are:

John McConville (Carlton Admin Mgr & CV Delegate) Chairman
Kevan Carroll (Uni President, Admin Manager & CV Delegate)
Ross MacKenzie (Northcote Vice-President & CV Delegate)
Ken Stone (Footscray Edgewater Vice-President & CV Delegate)

Kevan Carroll and Ken Stone were elected in March 2008 for three-year terms, RossMacKenzie was elected in March 2009 for a three-year term.

OFF-SEASON ACHIEVEMENTS

Many people involved in Premier Cricket are also committed to football during our off-season. Congratulations to the following on their "off-season" achievements:
• Luke Walker - AFL goal umpire. The Frankston Peninsula left-hander officiated in the Preliminary Final between the Saints and the Bulldogs. Former Ringwood player Scott McLaren was one of the field umpires in the Geelong v Collingwood clash.
• Courtney Lai - awarded the VFL Goal Umpire of the Season award. Courtney is a member of the CV umpiring panel.
• Kris Bardon - the Lions'keeper played in Vermont's EFL First Division premiership team. Kris is vicecaptain of the Eagles, whose incredible success-rate
was extended to 15 of the last 24 flags.
• Matthew Gale - the newly appointed Rams' skipper plays with Mooroolbark, winner of the EFL Third Division flag in 2009.
• Michael King, Blair Allan, Ben Osborne, Chris Dinnell, Daniel King - the Rams' quintet all played with South Croydon, winners of the EFL Second Division flag. Michael King, with 73 majors, topped the Second Division goalkicking award, while Ben Osborne was best on the ground in the Grand Final.

1ST XI RECORDS ON PREMIER WEBSITE

Last season, for the first time, the Premier Cricket website contained details of every 1st XI cricketer ever to pull on a boot. These records have been updated to include all of last season's data, plus many minor errors or omissions have also been identified and amended. Check under the "History" section and, amongst other information, you'll find details of:

CV 1st XI Player Register: Full names, date of birth and death, clubs played for and number of matches. CV 1st XI Career Statistics: number of matches, runs, wickets, averages, catches, stumpings.

We would be pleased to hear from anyone who may be able to add, update or correct any data. Please contact Peter Binns at Cricket Victoria with any additional information.

The massive amount of work carried out by our Honorary CV Statistician Ken Williams, is acknowledged and we appreciate Ken's willingness to share this treasure-trove of information with the wider cricket community.

MILESTONES

We pay tribute to the following players and officials who are due to celebrate milestones. MORE

VALE

We have again bid adieu to several great cricket people over the off-season. We hereby pay tribute to their respective contributions and extend our condolences to the families and clubs they represented with distinction. MORE

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