Harper Sercombe
Westmeadows has been given a lifeline in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division.
The Warriors finished bottom last season and were facing the prospect of being relegated to division 1, but the Haig Fawkner will now be the side to drop down.
Haig Fawkner was at the centre of ball tampering allegations earlier this year, reported at the time by this masthead.
There had been a motion to expel the club in July, but it was adjourned while legal action was still in place.
VTCA president Zoran Havranek told Star Weekly that Haig would play in division 1 this season, while the Warriors would remain in senior division.
Warriors coach Donovan Pell said as a club they were excited to remain in the top division.
“As a club you always want to be trying to play in the top division,” he said. “Obviously, it was a bit sour, the fact that we couldn’t hold our spot in that top division last year.
“So the planets have aligned for us to stay up and we want to take that full opportunity.
“We’ve gone out and filled some holes in some spots we needed to, so hopefully we can not just survive but thrive in the senior division.”
One of the holes needed to be filled by Pell was that of last season’s leading run scorer Clayton Campbell.
Michael Pell, Donovan’s brother, is coming to fill that role and open the batting for the Warriors.
Another hole filled was the signing of Geeth Alwis for the next two seasons. Alwis joins the club from St Albans where he played the last nine seasons, including winning the Roy Paxino Medal as the best player in senior division in 2021-22.
“It’s massive, he’s a two pronged attack in terms of, he bats at four and bowls left arm orthodox, so to get him along is really good,” Pell said.
“He’s sort of boosted that semi-professionalism that we want to take into the season.
“So those two ins have been huge for us.”
After winning just the three games last summer, Pell is taking things one week at a time this season.
“Coming from my background in premier cricket, we’re always looking at setting goals, but I think at the VTCA level, you just have got to stay a week in front of you,” he said.
“So we’re just looking at round one at the moment, looking at how white ball cricket’s going to look like at the start of the year.
“Then once we get to red ball cricket we’ll start to look at that also.
“But we’re just staying one game ahead of ourselves really.”
