Despite the wet and cold weather, Cricket decisions are already being made for next season. In good news for the game in the southern area, the Southern Districts Cricket Club have re-appointed Carl Hooper and Hannah Sampson as head coaches of the Men’s and Women’s programs respectively. 

Last season the Stingrays Women did the ‘double’ in the SACA Twenty20 competitions with both the first and second grade winning premierships. In the longer form of the game the second grade finished as minor premier but were unable to play finals due to the COVID-19 restrictions. However, as they had finished on top of the ladder at the end of the minor round, they were awarded the premiership. The first grade struggled at the start of their 50-over campaign before finishing the season well to just miss out on a finals berth.

The Stingrays Women have many good juniors with Ella Wilson, Callie Wilson, Gemma Kennedy and Amy Peterson all good chances to be included in the under age state programs again as they were last season. Other players to watch include Annabelle Yelland, Keely Stone and Kelly Armstrong.  Yelland joined the Stingrays late last season and is relatively new to the game. Coach Hannah Sampson expects her skills to go “through the roof” with regular games. It will be Stone’s third season of cricket and Sampson says, “she’s improved out of sight and will be pushing for a consistent first grade spot. She’s a great kid and very coachable.” According to Sampson, Armstrong was “unlucky not to be considered for a state contract after taking 35 wickets last season. She has one of the best ‘wrong-uns’ in the state and she will be looking to put in another big season for us.” The Stingrays have also gained the services of young all-rounder Shania McKinnon from Kensington who Sampson is looking forward to working with. “We have a lot of players pushing for first grade positions so it should make for good competition for spots,” said Sampson. Pre-season starts in August so anyone interested in playing for us is welcome to contact me or the club. We are the premier cricket club for the south!”

Former West Indies international Carl Hooper made an immediate impact on the Men’s program as the first grade rose from 11th position in 2018/19 to fifth in 2019/20. The other three senior grades all won more games and finished higher on the ladder than in the 2018/19 season as well with hopefully more depth and improvement to come.

The Stingrays recruited well with the returning Lewis Hatchett taking 32 wickets in first grade competition to finish equal second on the SACA wicket-taking list. Sunam Gautam was also a key recruit and he made an excellent contribution with 305 runs and 19 wickets to be one of the leading all-rounders in the competition. Skipper Josh Barrett led the way with the bat making 581 runs at an average of 52.82 including a match-winning knock of 182 not out against Port Adelaide. He was well supported by veteran Brendan McCormack who made 520 runs at 40.

The Stingrays are always on the lookout for new players so if you’re interested in playing in season 2020/21, please get in touch with the club. Their website is http://southern_stingrays.sa.cricket.com.au/ and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Southern-District-Stingrays-168794203135228/