The Alexandra & Eastern Hills Cricket Association (AEHCA) ‘A’ grade season gets underway on Saturday (10 October) with nine teams battling it out for the premiership. This will be the third consecutive season the ‘A’ grade competition will feature nine teams and once again it will be a 45-over one-day format.

Hahndorf won their first ‘A’ grade flag since 2001/02 last season after being the highest ranked qualifier for the grand final. The decider against Langhorne Creek wasn’t played due to the COVID-19 situation therefore the Magpies were declared premiers. They had qualified for the grand final by defeating minor premier Strathalbyn in the qualifying final. Ryan Trafford-Walker has taken over as ‘A’ grade skipper from Kris Dawe while Jarrad Tait has returned to Nairne after two successful seasons at Pine Avenue. Veteran batsmen Andrew Baker (515 runs) and Greg Hassold (321 runs) led the way with the bat for the Magpies and they were ably supported by the consistent Graydon Brand who scored 314 runs. Hahndorf has good depth in its bowling stocks with Caleb Blesing, Michael Shanahan, Benny Montgomerie and Lachlan Huxtable combining for 72 wickets last season.

2018/19 premier Langhorne Creek made their way into the 2019/20 grand final with wins against Lobethal and Strathalbyn in the finals series. The chance for back-to-back flags in a rematch with Hahndorf was beckoning until the season was abandoned. The Tigers are sure to be around the mark again this season and have been buoyed by last season’s boom recruit Brodie O’Dea, being cleared ‘full time’ from Pekina/Carrieton Cricket Club. O’Dea played eight games last season and scored 346 runs at 49.43 and also snared 15 wickets at 13.60. Last season's leading run scorer Nathan Wundersitz, who scored 476 runs, won’t be available every week while Brad Clements has moved to Bremer-Callington. Matt Tonkin will lead the Tigers ‘A’ grade for a seventh season. Troy Blackwell will again lead the attack after taking 26 wickets last season and veteran Ben Warren will look to add to his incredible career tallies of 626 wickets and 8,275 runs. 15 year old Riley Tonkin should get an opportunity at some stage during the season and Daniel Kropp will also look forward to more opportunities. 

Strathalbyn’s ‘A’ grade premiership drought continues after the 2019/20 minor premier went out of the AEHCA finals in ‘straight sets’ at the hands of Hanhdorf and Langhorne Creek. The Stallions held down top spot for the second half of the season but couldn’t get over the line in the finals and they’ll be driven to go at least one step further in 2020/21. Veteran Nathan Pelle will be a big loss both on and off the field as he has headed overseas but the Stallions have brought in a couple of handy recruits. 20 year old opening batsman Zach Reekie joins the club from the Adelaide Cricket Club. Reekie has played ‘A’ grade district cricket and will be an excellent addition. Matt Harris has also joined the club from Ashbourne. Harris is a 21year old all-rounder who is keen to test himself at ‘A’ grade level. Mark Abbott will continue as skipper for a seventh consecutive season and as usual, his all-round talent will be a big factor for the Stallions. Strathalbyn’s bowling  got them out of trouble in many games last season with Brayden Gaiter (34), Matt Hein (32) and Matt Abbott (31) taking 97 wickets between them so batting is an area they will be keen to improve on and with Reekie joining Mark Abbott, Matt Abbott and Luke Cousins in the top order they look very strong.

Lobethal was a real success story of 2019/20. After losing their first three games of the season, the Tigers went through the rest of the minor round undefeated before falling to Langhorne Creek by 34 runs in the elimination final. Ben Matthews will once again lead the youthful Tigers and they’ll welcome back former premiership captain Kristan Georgiou as well as Josh Birtles, who has joined the Tigers from Mt Torrens/Charleston. Birtles has taken 70 ‘A’ grade wickets in the past four seasons for the Torrens Valley Cricket Association (TVCA) club. Matthews (409 runs), Mitchell Weeks (365) and Daniel Norsworthy (341) were the mainstays of the batting lineup last season and they’ll once again be a key to Lobethal’s success. The bowling stocks look good as well with Dave Huxter, James Elliott, Matt Martin and Weeks combining for 86 wickets last season and they will be boosted by the addition of Birtles in 2020/21. Look for the Tigers to continue their improvement this season. 

After appearing in finals action in all eight seasons since coming across from the TVCA, Woodside surprisingly missed out on the major round last season after losing three of their last four games. Brad Collins will once again lead the Warriors who will be desperate to return to major round action. Veteran Dave Wescombe had another excellent season with the bat in 2019/20 as he scored 557 runs at 46.42 to win the AEHCA batting aggregate. He was well supported by Will Worthington (299 runs) and Tommy Baldock (293 runs). The Warriors will look to these three batsmen and hopefully some other useful contributors to post a winning score. With the ball, Dale Robinson led the way with 20 wickets while Chris Basciera snared 19 scalps. The Warriors will hope Shane Collins, who took 12 wickets last season, will return to his best form which saw him take 150 wickets in the previous five seasons after crossing from Nairne.  

After winning nine premierships in 10 seasons, Nairne has gone through a bit of a ‘rebuilding’ phase in the past couple of years after losing a huge amount of premiership experience. They have remained competitive finishing fifth in 2018/19 and sixth in 2019/20. The Razorbacks will be buoyed by the return of Jarrad Tait after he spent the past two seasons at Hahndorf. Tait will take up a mentoring role as well as being a key part of the ‘A’ grade. Brodie Clarke also returns after captaining Sturt in the SACA under 16 competition and Shane Kenney, who only played a few games last season, will be available. Veteran fast bowler Michael Harden has hung up the boots after playing in four premierships and taking 189 wickets for the Razorbacks. Luke Timmins will once again skipper the ‘A’ grade and he’ll look to lead by example as he did in 2019/20 when he scored 358 runs for the season. Timmins will hope Robert Crook can continue on from a career-best season where he scored 435 runs including two centuries to finish sixth in the AEHCA batting aggregate. Sam Rowe (17 wickets), Chad Harrop (16) and the ever reliable Mitch Hein (15) led the wicket takers for Nairne last season and these three will be complemented by the returning Tait who is recognised as one of the best bowlers in the competition. 

Bremer-Callington had a disappointing 2019/20 campaign, winning just three games and finishing in seventh position on the ladder. The Cobras have been active in the off-season adding a number of recruits including Nick Williams from Port Adelaide, Sam Rushe (Jervois), Brad Louch (Meadows), Brad Clements (Langhorne Creek) and three players from Mawson Lakes in Amit Maina, Ajay Pundir and Sandeep Huda. Stewart Leigh has been appointed ‘A’ grade skipper for 2020/21. Johnny Fitzgerald (346 runs) and Arsalan Eubaid (292) led the way with the bat last season but no other Cobra made more than 200 runs for the season so this will be a major focus in 2020/21. Nathan Fitzgerald took 21 wickets last season to finish in the top-10 on the AEHCA wicket takers list but he needs more support and with the new recruits he may well get it. There’s plenty happening at Callington with a new turf wicket being put in this season meaning both ovals will have turf facilities, an electronic scoreboard has been installed and new clubrooms are being built as we speak. 

Mount Barker will embark on their third season back in ‘A’ grade ranks with a new coach in Brad Horsell. Horsell joined the Kookaburras last season after playing stints at Port Districts and Belair and made a whopping 1,054 runs in the ‘B’ grade competition. Simon Turk, Rhys Paterson and Jackson Lane will form the ‘A’ grade leadership group in 2020/21. Turk joined the ‘Burras last season and had an immediate impact scoring 382 runs and taking 10 wickets in a fine all-round display. Wayne Buckland scored 300 runs last season but he has ‘temporarily’ retired and Rhys Paterson managed just 213 runs for 2019/20, but he’s a classy player and should score more runs this season. Teenager Hayden Lane really stepped up in just his second season in ‘A’ grade company to lead the ‘Burras bowling attack with 18 wickets for the season and the youngster should improve further with experience.

Wistow are looking for a much improved 2020/21 season after posting just one victory last season. The Echidnas are celebrating their 125th anniversary and hopefully this will inspire the young playing group to greater heights. Gun all-rounder Dan Jenner will once again lead Wistow. Jenner has made 2,898 runs and taken 112 wickets in his five seasons on the ‘hill’ at Wistow and is one of the best players in AEHCA ranks. David Kinlough with 350 runs and Lachlan Elsworthy, who has taken 88 wickets over the past four seasons, will need to step up once again. In good news for the Echidnas, top order batsman Matt Chapman is back from a serious knee injury and will be raring to go and they have also picked up an extra bowler in Josh Fidler from Mount Lofty. Fidler only played a couple of games at Heathfield last season after coming up from Mount Gambier. Fidler has a good record in the Mount Gambier competition having most recently played for North Gambier. Wistow will once again focus on bringing on their youth, having played at least half a dozen ‘colts’ in ‘A’ grade last season. The Echidnas also have three senior sides for the first time in a while which is a good sign for the future.

Round 1 fixtures (home team named first)

Hahndorf v Strathalbyn

Nairne v Langhorne Creek

Lobethal v Wistow

Woodside v Bremer/Callington

Mount Barker has the bye