Harper Sercombe
Plenty Valley is ready to make its mark on the Victorian Premier Cricket women’s competition with a fresh crop of international players to complement its local talent.
After finishing sixth last season, 12 points out of finals, head of women’s cricket Brett Cole said he is excited to see what the new look group can do.
“We’re looking forward to a really tough season,” he said.
“We’ve got a good amount of imports coming through. We’ve got a West Indian [Shawnisha Hector] coming across and we’ve got two Sri Lankans, Umasha [Timseshani] returning from Sri Lanka and another Sri Lankan [Madushika Methtananda]. And we’ve obviously got Nipuni [Hansika] and Rebecca [Vandort].
“And Maryam Omar will be our captain for the next couple of years, which will be fantastic for us.”
Omar previously captained Kuwait in international cricket and came top three in the Renegades Recruit TV show.
“She’s taken on board the leadership side of things, which is fantastic,” Cole said.
“We wanted an all-rounder (to be captain)… we’ve been really impressed with her during the off season and she’s ready and raring to get into it.”
Hector, Methtananda, Hansika and Vandort have all played international cricket for their respective countries, adding to the wealth of experience at the club.
Hansika tops the group in terms of experience, with 34 one-day International games and 20 T20 internationals under her belt for Sri Lanka.
Hansika was outstanding for the Bats last season averaging 55 across the season. Timseshani was another stand out last season, taking 17 wickets at an average of 16.35.
With all of the international players and experience now at the club, Cole said finals is the aim.
“We’re looking for the best,” he said. “We are aiming for as high as we can get.”
“We’re putting in the effort in the off season to get to the point that we can have the right squad at the right time of the year which is March next year when it’s finals time.
“[Last season] we fell away a little bit after Christmas due to injuries and so forth which didn’t help, but we’re looking forward to a really strong group.”
However, it is not just the imports that are going to bring success to the Bats with gun all-rounder Jasmine Nevins in the side.
The 19-year-old averaged 34.08 with the bat across her 15 games last season.
“She’s an absolute superstar, she’ll be in there a little bit, obviously with her Victoria contract,” Cole said.
“We’re excited, we’ve got some good juniors coming through as well which is fantastic.
“They might even get a feel for it (premier cricket) this year.
“I think we’ve got a strong enough group in the ones so we don’t have to use them, which is great.”
The Bats will kick off their season on October 8 with a T20 match against Ringwood at Jubilee Park.
