The whites are on and the gloves are off — the McMahon Shield season has arrived.
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The first ball of the 2023-24 Goulburn Murray Cricket campaign will be bowled this weekend with round one of the McMahon Shield, with the A-grade competition back up to 10 teams with the reintroduction of Tongala.
It’s the first time since 2020-2021 the Blues have featured in the top flight, but at the top of the pack, reigning premier Echuca is hunting a rare three-peat, the dominant team of recent times.
Echuca South shapes as the rapid riser with a coterie of key recruits and Moama looks prepared to take the next step in its pursuit of a flag.
The league will also have a distinct international flavour, with players coming from all over the globe to play cricket in country Victoria.
The McMahon Shield commences with Saturday’s one-day clashes, the first of the 14-round season.
ECHUCA
The reigning premier is hunting three flags on the trot.
Echuca’s rise to the top saw it claim back-to-back flags in 2021-22 and 2022-23, both in convincing fashion over BLU and Nondies-Cohuna.
It has swept all before it and lost just two games in the past two seasons.
So, how do you improve on that?
Changes have been incremental in the McMahon Shield squad, but the club has continued the trend of bringing in an overseas player.
Scottish batsman Ewan Davidson has joined for the season, while leg-spinner Summi Kingar joins Echuca from VSDCA club Oakleigh.
Meanwhile, Curtis Townrow and Matt Hinks shape as key cogs in the line-up once more as Echuca faces BLU in round one.
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Premier
ECHUCA SOUTH
The Swans could be one of the big improvers this season.
South has secured the services of Bamawm-Lockington United duo Rathika Rajakumara and Sandun Ranathunga, the former coming on board as head coach and the latter back in the GMC after a season in the BDCA.
The Swans’ pace stocks have also lifted with Tristan Watson joining brother Clayton from Kyabram Fire Brigade and another Lion in Amila Gunathilaka returning to South Reserve.
“We recruited pretty well with a new coach and a few new players,” Swans co-captain Ben Eade said.
“(Rathika) and Asantha (Singappuli) were mates back in Sri Lanka, so that was a bonus. They’re all really good blokes and fit in well.
“Tristan gets to play with his brother. It will be good for them to play A-grade together for the first time.
“We haven’t lost anybody, and Mitch Stephens is another coming back. He didn’t play the last two years.”
South is chasing its first finals appearances in 10 seasons and first in the GMC.
“We haven’t played finals for about 10 years, so it will be a good chance to get back and make some waves,” Eade said.
The Swans face Kyabram Fire Brigade in round one.
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Fourth
MOAMA
Moama has been right on the cusp of a grand final in recent history, but that nut has been a tough one to crack with the black and white stumbling in the semi-finals for the last three seasons.
But no longer. The former top-grade powerhouse will be hunting revived fortunes this season with a retained squad and some new faces on board.
Experienced all-rounder Michael Hill has signed on as playing coach after eight seasons at Cooma, while top-order batsman Joel Murphy has returned from Sandhurst to skipper his boyhood club.
“Obviously Hilly in as coach is a big addition with bat and ball and we’ve been able to retain most players from last year, we should be going all right,” Murphy said.
“We think we’re a pretty good side and we want to build on a few semi-final appearances. I’m enjoying being back and keen to get into it.”
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Second
BAMAWM-LOCKINGTON UNITED
After making a grand final in 2021-22 campaign, BLU bowed out at the semi-final stage to Echuca last season.
But the Lions have been hovering on the precipice of success for the last two years and hope to go that one step further this time.
BLU has lost the services of experienced duo Rathika Rajakumara and pace ace Amila Gunathilaka but will again be led by former international cricketer Regis Chakabva.
The departures leave the door open for some of its young brigade to continue to make their name, including leading batsman Liam Hamilton and Declan Pearse.
The Lions have a tough first-up challenge in reigning premier Echuca at Bamawm tomorrow.
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Seventh
TONGALA
The Blues are back and hoping to make an impact.
Alex Williams will skipper Tongala’s return to A-grade cricket, the first time since 2020-21 the club has fielded a team in the top grade after a player exodus forced it into withdrawing.
Former league medallist Darin Ohlsen is back at the club after taking 56 wickets at an average of 8.8 in two seasons for Kyabram in Cricket Shepparton. Jayden Tucker and Adam Nunn bring even more experience to the squad.
Coupled with Tongala’s emerging stars, such as Hudson Kellett, Lachlan Caldwell and Jessie Johnstone, it has left Williams feeling confident they can make a dent in this campaign.
But Tongala will keep an eye on the future as it dips its toe back into A-grade.
“I think just to remain competitive across the four grades would be the ideal option for us,” Williams said.
“If we can do that, it will benefit the club moving forward.
“Darin Ohlsen’s playing a few games for us, so that’s a massive inclusion. We have a few younger kids coming through as well.”
The Blues face Rochester in round one at Rochester Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Ninth
KYABRAM FIRE BRIGADE
Kyabram Fire Brigade Cricket Club will be looking to return to finals cricket in the Goulburn Murray A-grade John McMahon Shield competition this season despite some major losses.
The former competition powerhouse has missed the finals in the past two seasons and is keen to return as a force in 2023-24 which begins with a one-day round this Saturday.
The Flames meet Echuca South, who has recruited well, in the opening round at Echuca South Recreation Reserve.
Star all-rounder Kaine Herbert has returned from Kyabram to play with the Brigade and pace bowler Charlie Barnett will join his brother Jackson to head its pace attack.
The Flames are also hoping classy young batsman Anthony DePasquale will also play.
Gun batsman Paul Newman and Jake Gascoyne will be joint skippers and will lead its batting line-up along with Herbert, Rob Salter and emerging opener Miller Griffiths.
But it has lost some star players.
Former premiership skipper in Brenton Campbell has joined Murray Valley Cricket Association club Nathalia and along with club stalwart Danny Kent, who now lives in Queensland, will be big holes to fill.
West Indian pace bowler Chare Smith who played last season is also not returning and Tristan Watson has moved to Echuca South.
— Gus Underwood
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Fifth
ROCHESTER
Rochester will open its John McMahon A-grade Shield campaign this Saturday against a new-look Tongala side, with the club fielding its first A-grade team in two years.
And while the season opener often has players itching to get back onto the field, that won’t quite be the case for Rochy come Saturday.
“We’re missing half our team, they’ve all got footy trips on,” Rochester A-grade coach Jake Wright said.
“We’ve got about six blokes to name I reckon.”
A severely impacted pre-season, during which Wright said he had “had about five blokes for the whole year at training,” has left the A-grade side teetering come round one.
“We should be able to field a side (on Saturday), but it depends how strong it’s going to be,” Wright said.
Wright, who is entering his first season coaching at Rochester after a few years of playing at Mooroopna, is expecting the returning Tongala side to be a tough opponent in week one.
“We expect them to be pretty handy with a few of the boys coming back from Ky into the Tonny team,” he said.
“With (Darin) Ohlsen, Ohlsen’s probably the best bowler in the league, so it’s probably not ideal to come against him first up.”
Despite the forecast for round one looking grim for Rochester, there is still optimism that the side will be able to contend for finals, which they missed last season, with “most of” last year’s crop of players to come back into the fold at some point, according to Wright.
“We’ll definitely be trying to push for finals, definitely,” he said.
“When we have our full side in, I think we are probably the strongest in the league. That’s just if everyone plays in that one week.”
Dylan Cuttriss will once again captain the club’s top senior side, while Rochester has also expanded to field a senior women’s side this season, leading to a positive feeling at the club.
“Everyone’s pretty excited,” Wright said.
“It’s just getting everyone on the park at once is the hard part at the moment.”
Rochester’s A-grade side gets its season under way this Saturday at Rochester Recreation Reserve against Tongala, with the match set to commence at noon.
— Alexander Dabb
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Sixth
Around the league
Throughout the GMC, clubs are loading up for an assault on the league leaders.
Leitchville-Gunbower was the only club to topple Echuca last season and will take some heart from that, and showcased some solid cricket despite missing out on finals.
It has a tough assignment in round one against grand finalist Nondies-Cohuna in Cohuna.
The men in purple have been bolstered by a trio of overseas additions, including top-order batsman Archie Sussex from North Wales, batting all-rounder Karim Marcelle, and Zimbabwe paceman Ernest Masuku.
Meanwhile, Cooma has lost just one player in Tom Guerra while topping up with English duo Hugo Bell and Matt Darvill.
Leitchville-Gunbower
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Eighth
Nondies-Cohuna
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: Third
Cooma
Josh Huntly’s predicted finish: 10th