St George 2023-24 First XI (Part 2)
St George Cricket Club | September 30, 2024
Here's part 2 of our Top 11 countdown from the 2023-24 season.
First let's recap numbers 11 to 7 from part 1.
11. Josh Moors takes out All Time Golden Box award for 1st Grade premiership celebrations
10. Moises Henriques becomes the first to Play 100 in all three formats
9. Busy Broom with 4 x 2023-24 Clean Sweeps
8. Raf MacMillan becomes a World Cup Winning Hero
7. Steve Wark's award winning season
Now for the final 6 best moments of the 2023-24 season....
6. Ed Pollock scores fastest Limited Over 1st Grade century
After his first few digs in Australia it became evident that Ed was going to explode with something special. That happened in Rd 10 when Ed pulverised Fairfield-Liverpool for 116 from just 58 balls. We’re going out on a limb in suggesting that this is the fastest century in our white ball 1st grade history. He brought up his century from just 50 balls with a monster pull shot that almost made it back to his hometown in England.
Ed Pollock launching another missile at the Hurstville Oval civilians
5. Jono Craig Dobson writes himself into the history books with Benaud Medal performance.
The grand final was jammed packed full of first class cricketers but it was Jono who stood tallest and demonstrated heart the size of Phar Lap when he came away with Man of The Match. 9 wickets for the match including 6-51 in the 2nd dig but let’s not forget that 111 ball innings of 36 not out. Things might have just turned out a little different if not for that gutsy 9th wicket partnership of 41 out of 209 from Dobo and Raf MacMillan.
Another scalp for the Benaud Medalist, Jono Craig Dobson
4. Kurtis Patterson takes out inaugural Bradman Award for Highest score of 23-24
What a treat it was to have Patto back in the team and no doubt his presence, skill and experience was one of the contributing factors to his sides Premiership success. His 908 runs at 69.85 had everything except for one missing link. Up until his 2nd last innings of the season Kurtis had picked off 6 half centuries including a 90, 90 & 87 but a ton had eluded him. That was until one of the more important opportunities arose in the Semi against Parramatta where he finally reached the triple figures and there was not a Saints Supporter at Hurstville who did not revel in his passionate celebration. He then insured that The Saints would make the Grand Final by kicking on to 192* before Parramatta conceded defeat robbing him of a deserved double century.
3. Record Breaking season from Blake MacDonald
What a mind blowing season from this sublime cricketer. 5 centuries in one season equalling the great Geoff Milliken. He finished with 1266 runs which ranks 2nd behind Steve Cazzulino’s 1335 in 09/10 and let’s not forget that innings of 182 against UNSW. This innings was set to become the inaugural Bradman Award winner for the highest score of the season before Patto knocked it off in the Semi Final but this innings was actually a record breaker as the highest score in a one dayer. Coming in at 1-76 Macdonald was dismissed off the final ball of the innings after facing 128 balls and hitting a mind blowing 14 x 6’s and 8 x 4’s. Buckle up St Kilda, you’re in for some ride!!!
Blake Macdonald celebrating another century
2. British Invasion
Ed Pollock, Vansh Jani & Ollie Rayner. Come again!! We struck gold with our imports in 2023-24 with all three cricketers proving pivotal in the success of the club.
Led by Vansh Jani who took out the Player of the Year Award after moving from 4th Grade to 1st Grade over the course of the season, we were blessed this season with 3 amazing cricketers from the UK who did their bit to make 23-24 a memorable season.
Aside from Vansh and his amazing 997 run season (inc PG’s) we also welcomed a young Welshman in Ollie Rayner who finished 519 runs (inc PG’s) and also took 35 wickets. Then there was the Master Blaster from Warwickshire, Ed Pollock who joined us as 1st Grade player No.475 and pieced together 591 scorching runs at an average of 53.73 including once century that you’ll hear more about in this list
Ultimately it was just so nice to see them fit into the culture of the club and we can only hope they use their Australian experience as a platform for higher honours over the next few years as they aim to reach for their cricketing goals.
English season updates -
Ed Pollock captained Worcestershire 2nds and played List A cricket where his brutish form from the Aussie season continued including an innigs of 180 from 138 balls against Middlesex.
Vansh Jani started his English season in emphatic fashion with a monster double century for his club Richmond. This form soon saw him elevated to 2nd XI cricket with Middlesex where he scored a 128 against none other than Ed Pollocks Worcestershire.
Ollie Rayner got back to put some solid performances together with his club Usk CC and promptly became an international cricketer!! He was selected in the Welsh National Counties team as well as earning a few games with the Glamorgan 2nd XI teams. He also was picked for two T20 Blast games with the 1st XI.
Ollie and Vansh enjoying some quality time at Hurstville Oval
1. 1st Grade Premiership / Winning streak
Other than the Club Championship, winning the Belvidere Cup is the pinnacle in NSW Premier Cricket and this was our 18th success. It was an absolutely amazing season that we’ll never forget.
Be it the huge streak of victories, the positive and entertaining way in which they played, the individual milestones and then finally the pressure and excitement of the three days of finals cricket against the might of Manly. The season had it all. It was just so befitting to see Captain Nick Stapleton hold that Silverware to the skies after prior years of heartache.
First Grade Premiership side
