Team for the 3rd XI Grand Final

The 2013/14 season is already two months old and as of this weekend, St Kilda will have played three formats of cricket with more than 50 players donning the red, yellow and black.

The quirks of the Victorian Premier Cricket fixture dictate an action-packed pre-Christmas period, before we settle into red ball cricket from January onwards.

But when reflecting on the first nine weeks of this campaign, there are a vast array of individual performances that have caught the eye of those inside and those outside our Junction Oval.

Graeme Rummans began the season with two half centuries, before a match-winning 103 against Ringwood orchestrated a hard-fought victory. In the same game, Daniel Forbes compiled a decisive 93 in a partnership of 181 with his skipper.

From a bowling perspective, the 1^st XI was seemingly in a transition period in the pre-season. The departures of Dan Babula and Nick Voyage along with an injury to Lachie Graf presented opportunities for Shea Gribben and Blade Baxter to stamp their authority.

Both youngsters boast a four-wicket haul each, and have formed an at times lethal alliance with Dan Mueller who has already claimed 19 wickets at an average of 17. Mueller’s hatrick against Fitzroy Doncaster was his second in Victorian Premier Cricket, and included the prize scalp of Lloyd Mash for a golden duck.

But it’s the scope of run-makers that has proved pivotal to this point. Josh Manning, Andrew McGuiness and Matt Chasemore have all compiled a century apiece, with consistent contributions from Damon Rowan and Will Russell exemplifying great depth in the batting stocks. Russell in particular has been ultra-dependable – falling for less than 20 just once in seven innings.

The 1^st XI are fourth at present, and are committed to replicating last season’s stellar T20 form over the next fortnight to push for a top-two place heading into the festive break.

The 2^nd XI’s fortunes haven’t quite gone to plan as yet, although Jarrad Dowling’s men are far from out of it despite patchy form and inclement weather causing headaches in the first two months.

The standout has undoubtedly been Jackson Cooper, who cut and pulled his way to three quick-fire half centuries in succession to open the season, before a deserved call-up to the 1sts in country round.

Cooper has not just set the platform for each innings, but also the tone. He has been ably supported by Lewis Mildenhall and Josh Drummond – who both relish the longer format of the game and have each crafted two patient half centuries in recent weeks.

When not playing 1^st XI, Charlie Ross has proven to be a fearsome spearhead of the bowling attack, combining pace, swing and relentless accuracy on a consistent basis.

The 2nds have won just three games, but are less than two wins off sixth place and look to have recovered from a relatively scratchy first month of the season. Four T20 wins over the next two weeks will go a long way towards establishing a top-eight spot heading into Christmas.

As always, the 3^rd XI is around the mark at the moment. No team in the competition has conceded less runs than St Kilda thus far, with Henry Hall proving especially difficult to get away. Before his promotion to the 2nds, Tom Gilbert’s all-round efforts earned him wide acclaim as he snared eight wickets in three games plus a fluent 68.

In his first season at the club, Sam Chamberlain began in the perfect fashion – hitting 61 against Camberwell, followed by 46 two weeks later versus Geelong.

What the thirds boast is a versatile core group of players, many of whom are three-dimensional cricketers capable of turning a game at any given moment. Jack Jowett, James Maxwell, Jared Munday and Ryan Barnett are just four of many young Saints pushing for higher honours.

In the 4ths, two failures to open the season didn’t deter Jesse Dinnie, who has since put together scores of 37, 98, 30 and 26 as a rock up the top of the order.

Support has come from Lachie Holmes, who has since moved up to the 3^rd XI, and Matt Powell, who hit an unbeaten 110 against Geelong in October.

From a bowling perspective, Oliver Oostermeyer continues to steam in, while Josh Tyquin and Brett Muirhead rarely go for more than two runs per over and have added handy contributions with the willow.

The 4ths are 12^th on the table, but like the 3rds, have conceded the fewest runs in the league. They have also scored the most runs out of any 4^th XI team so far.

One of the primary objectives at the beginning of the season was to win the club championship, and St Kilda is in the mix – sitting in fourth spot being Carlton, Melbourne and Footscray Edgewater.

4 T20s will be followed by a one-dayer before Christmas, with the action in January, February and March consisting entirely of two-day cricket.

There is plenty to look forward to.