Melbourne coach Ben Vague will support star paceman Kieran Elliott if he decides to move interstate, write PAUL AMY and TYLER LEWIS.
Melbourne fast bowler Kieran Elliott is attracting interstate interest after his premiership-winning season in Victorian Premier Cricket.
Demons coach Ben Vague says clubs in Tasmania and Queensland have sounded out Elliott with the possibility of pre-season training with the state squads.
He says he would be “devastated’’ to lose the tall right-armer but believes Elliott belongs in first-class cricket.
The 27-year-old finished last season with 45 wickets, second only in the Premier aggregate to new Victorian squad member Matt Fotia (49).
He captured 4-74 off 20.4 overs in the first innings in the grand final against Carlton after returns of 5-53 against Footscray in the quarter-final and 5-53 against Ringwood in the preliminary final.
“I’m absolutely certain Kieran Elliott is good enough for Shield cricket,’’ Vague declared.
“Seventeen wickets in a final series against the best batsmen … I’ve got great respect for bowlers who take wickets in the home-and-away games but in finals you’re playing against the best players and he’s taken 17 over three weeks.
“To me that’s a player who is good enough for the next level. He bowled an unbelievable ball to get Rogers (Ringwood’s new state squad member Tom Rogers). He destroyed Footscray. He got seven wickets in the final and could easily have been man-of-the-match.
“So, yes, he’s absolutely good enough for Shield or One-day cricket for Victoria, but most likely it looks like it’s going to be Queensland or Tasmania. He’s got a minimum (offer) of a pre-season with both. We’d be devastated to see him go, because he’s an unbelievable club person, but at the end of the day he deserves an opportunity to prove his skill-set at a higher level and I’ll be supporting him in that.’’
Vague says Elliott has been among the most consistent pace bowlers in Premier Cricket in the past few years.
In an interview with CODE Sports ahead of the grand final, Elliott said a boot up the backside from former Melbourne coach and Test swinger Adam Dale four years ago was a turning point in his career.
“It was around getting me to a place where I could take the opportunities with both hands. I think there was period where I didn’t kick the can, but I looked around and was frustrated that I wasn’t getting picked over certain guys,’’ he said.
Dale told CODE Sports: “He’s a true friend. And true friends stab you in the front. I gave it to him both barrels. He didn’t need it in the sense that he always worked hard and trained hard. It was more about, ‘Well, what do I need to do to get better?’
“The fitness was such an underlying foundation for him because if you can bowl six overs you can bowl eight and you can bowl nine and you can bowl 10. And the number of wickets you get in those eighth, ninth and 10th overs is amazing, because the batters sit on the first six and then they wonder how they’re going to get a run. And they’ve got to play some shots.’’
Vague confirmed his premiership captain Blake Thomson was staying in Victoria and would continue to push for a recall to the state squad.
In other news in men’s Premier Cricket:
– Kingston Hawthorn remains on the hunt for a new senior coach after Prahran quickie Matt Wilcox turned down an offer from the Hawks.
– Fitzroy-Doncaster has regained Zach Elliott – the son of former Test man Matthew – from Tasmania, locked in paceman Sean McNicholl from Greenvale Kangaroos and appointed experienced former Camberwell Magpies paceman Matt Whittaker as a playing assistant to head coach Matty Bremner. Whittaker – who played 125 First XI matches and took 215 wickets for the Magpies – is coming off a successful stint at Montrose in the Ringwood District association.
– Carlton has signed emerging leg-spinner Michael Archer from Greenvale, which could lose a number of other first XI players after the messy departure of senior coach Damian Shanahan at the end of the season.
– Mitch Perry and Sam Mills will be co-captains of Richmond after all-rounder Dom Matarazzo stepped down. The Tigers’ First XI will bear a different look next season with Jake Fraser-McGurk departing to South Australia and opener Yash Pednekar switching to Casey-South Melbourne.
– Prahran has added disgruntled Bomber Isaac Willet to its squad and will pursue the prospect of an overseas player.
– Frankston Peninsula will have former Test spinner Jon Holland full-time next season and has also secured former Kingston Hawthorn head coach Peter Marshall in a development role.
– Greenvale was unable to secure Northcote all-rounder Jack Lalor while Essendon failed in its attempt to lure promising young Dragon Jagadesh Koduru.
– The Bombers have bolstered their coaching panel by appointing Ben Fletcher and Kenroy Peters as assistants to Asanka Gurusinha. Fletcher is a former captain and five-time batting champion of Essendon, and scored more than 9000 runs for the club. Peters played Test cricket for the West Indies in 2014. More recently he has been coaching at local level with Youlden Parkville.
– Dandenong has Test man Peter Siddle back on its books, but he’s unlikely to play and the same applies to new club coach Tommy Donnell, who will be assisted by Ross Woodall, Gavin Adams and Tim Woodruff.