Tara Murray
Rivergum’s Matthew Perri has further cemented his spot as one of the North Metro Cricket Association greats, winning a third Bill McFarlane Medal.
The Kookas captain-coach claimed the honour as the Jika Shield’s best player, pipping Michael Sortino.
Perri said he thought he might be a chance to go close to the award, he thought that Sortino would have won it.
“It’s good to get the recognition for a good season,” he said. “I made 625 runs and it was probably my best year for a number of years.
“It was a pretty good season with the bat, I went up the top of the order to change things off and it paid off.
“It was something that I haven’t done for a long time, but I enjoyed facing the new ball.”
Perri also took 19 wickets. He said that playing a number of different roles in the bowling line up, meant that his performance with the ball was up and down at times.
Perri said to have been recognised for a third time had left him a little bit in shock. He previously won it 2018-19 and 2019-20.
“It is pretty good,” he said. “Alex Jesensek and Damien Sampimon went into the hall of fame on the night and they’ve won four medals and five medals each.
“I played in four flags with Alex and l learnt a lot from him and he certainly made me a better cricketer.
“To be that close to those names is pretty good to hear. I’m in a little bit of shock.”
It’s the third time in four seasons a Kookas player has claimed the medal, with Jarrod Bannister winning it in 2021-22.
The medal was bittersweet for Perri, with the Kookas missing the grand final for the first time since.
He said there was a different feeling in the group after the season ended. A grand final victory would have made winning the medal a bit sweeter.
“It wasn’t the medal that I wanted,” he said. “The way we went out is still gut wrenching.
“There’s a bit of a sick feeling and it will sit with us through winter until we are back out there.
“We lost by four runs and one wicket and we lost Sean Neary in the preliminary final with an injury which left us a bowler short.
“Everyone is going to go around again and hopefully we will bounce back.”
