The Great Southern Cricket Association (GSCA) 'A' grade season begins on Saturday (31 October) with six teams competing for premiership glory. Mount Compass and Myponga have dropped out of the top tier and will play ‘B’ grade in 2020/21. There will be 10 rounds with five two-day games (70 overs) and five one-day games (40 overs), with each club playing each other on two occasions.

Willunga won last years ‘A’ grade premiership after finishing as minor premiers and winning their way through to the grand final by defeating Goolwa in the qualifying final. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the grand final was unable to be played and Willunga were awarded the premiership as they had won the qualifying final. The Demons will again be the team to beat in 2020/21 and they have added some quality players to their already strong line-up. Chad Franceschini and Angus Williamson return to the club while Braden Altus and Sam Tregenza join the Demons from McLaren Districts. Luke Harding has taken over as ‘A’ grade skipper after Tye McIvor stepped down due to work and family commitments. Simon Roberts (314 runs & 40 wickets) and Luke Goldner (261 runs & 31 wickets) will once again be big keys to Willunga’s premiership quest.

Goolwa finished runner-up last season and will hope to go one step further in 2020/21. Josh Jones has been appointed ‘A’ grade skipper replacing Vic Robertson. Jesse Consalvo, who captained Port Elliot last season, has joined the Magpies while former Goolwa ‘Cricketer of the Year’ Jake Kuss has returned. The Magpies have a strong bowling line up with Jones (28 wickets), James Lawrence (26), Jake Ashton-Place (17), Jayden Crees (16) and Andy Evans (15) combining for 102 wickets last season. The addition of Kuss and Consalvo will add batting depth to the Goolwa line-up and provide valuable support for Evans and Luke Giddings who made 345 and 342 runs respectively last season.

Noarlunga finished third at the end of last season and had made their way through to the Preliminary Final to face Goolwa before COVID-19 struck. The Shoes will once again be led by 2019/20 GSCA ‘Cricketer of the Year’ Jason Scarff. Scarff had an excellent season in 2019/20, making 543 runs and claiming 32 wickets. Noarlunga will look to Anthony Burgess to make a significant contribution with the bat as he has done in his two seasons at the Shoes where he has compiled 1,152 runs in ‘A’ grade competition. 2018/19 premiership player Cam Bullard has returned to the club after playing last season with Southern Districts. Bullard is currently recovering from knee surgery so the club is hopeful he may play a part in the season after Christmas. Fast bowler Jamie Keers is back 'full-time' at the Shoes for the first time since the 2016/17 premiership season while Batsman Neil Reeve will also play at Noarlunga in 2020/21.

Port Elliot were the big improvers last season as they played finals for the first time since 2014/15. Ultimately they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Noarlunga in a tight tussle at Rapid Bay. Darryl Mason has stepped aside as senior coach while Brodie Whitbourne has taken over as ‘A’ grade skipper, replacing the departing Jesse Consalvo. The Bloods welcome back Ben Maier after a season with Western Youth Centre along with Andrew Steele who has moved back from Melbourne. James Colley (South Road CC) and Ben Colgan (North Canberra Gunghalin CC) have joined Port Elliot for season 2020/21. Ben Griffiths had an excellent first season in the GSCA after coming over from Ashbourne, scoring 319 runs and taking 15 wickets while youngster Joel Harris, in his first full season of ‘A’ grade, made 278 runs. These two players will play a big part in Port Elliot’s season as will veteran bowler Simon Donaldson. Donaldson returned to the Bloods after a season at Bridgewater and took 23 wickets and in the process, brought up his 200th wicket for the club. 

Encounter Bay missed finals action last season for the first time in more than a decade and will look to bounce back immediately in 2020/21. Gun all-rounder Cam Lintern will again lead Encounter Bay this season. Lintern scored 241 runs and took 16 wickets in 2019/20 and he was ably supported with the bat by Sam Hoffmann, who had his best season since 2014/15, scoring 471 runs at an average of 47.10 to finish second in the GSCA batting aggregate. No other Encounter Bay batsman made more than 130 runs so this will be an area they’ll look to improve. on. Dillon Burns led the Bays’ bowling with 18 wickets while Chris Butler took 15 wickets in just seven games. Encounter Bay will welcome teenager Blake Bailey back to the club after a stint at Southern Districts. Bailey played second and third grade with the Stingrays in 2019/20 and will be a handy addition to the Bays’ bowling line-up.

McLaren Districts finished in sixth spot last season with three wins, the most significant being a 25-run victory over Encounter Bay. David Smith led the way with the ball taking 29 wickets at 12.66 to finish third in the GSCA bowling aggregate. Smith will be looking for continued support from Bodie Wilson (14 wickets last season), Ryan McCurrach (12) and Stephen Nairn (12). The Crushers will need to improve their batting from last season with Nairn (216 runs) the only batsman to surpass 200 runs. Daniel Petrucci will once again lead the Crushers who will be looking for their first finals appearance since 2015/16. 

The ‘B’ grade competition will have 10 teams competing over nine rounds with a mixture of one-day (40 overs) and two-day (60 overs) games. There will be two ‘C’ grade competitions (C1 & C2) which will feature all one-day games (35 overs). These three competitions will start on Saturday November 7. Under 10’s and Under 12’s commence tomorrow (Friday 30 October) with Under 14’s and Under 16.5’s starting on Saturday (31 October).

Round 1 ‘A’ grade fixtures (1-day games/home team named first)

Willunga v Goolwa

McLaren Districts v Encounter Bay

Noarlunga v Port Elliot