The Hills Cricket Association (HCA) ‘A’ grade season begins on Saturday (9/10) with eight teams chasing the Von Doussa Shield. Flagstaff Hill has moved to the Adelaide & Suburban Cricket Association, while after winning the A2 premiership last season, Bridgewater are back in ‘A’ grade ranks.

Reigning premier Mount Lofty broke a 32-year premiership drought last season after their dramatic eight-run win over HCA powerhouse Meadows in the Grand Final. The Redcaps have retained their playing group and will once again be led by Jordan Neis-Beer, who had an excellent season in 2020/21 with 416 runs, including a match-winning 67 in the Grand Final. James Kittel-Neill, Adam Carthew, Aaron Smith and Josh Healey will all be keys to their teams success this season.

2020/21 runners-up Meadows will once again be one of the teams to beat this season Rohan Reid will lead the Bulldogs as they look to win an amazing 13th premiership since 2005/06. Meadows will be without Kris Dawe and Josh Teakle at this stage, while Brad Louch and Daniel Cross have returned to the kennel. Meadows will look to the continued improvement from their young players including Oscar Tydeman, Cade Long and Will Bevan-Giles.

Kangarilla played finals last season for the first time since joining the HCA in 2014/15 and defeated Aldgate in their semi-final before being knocked out by eventual premier Mount Lofty in the Preliminary Final. Che Martinsen will lead the club again and will be a key to his club's fortunes. Gun all-rounder Steve Featherstone  (396 runs & 21 wickets last season) and young bowler Ben Evans (25 wickets last season) will give Martinsen excellent support and ‘Kangies’ will hope batsmen such as Matthew Bertelsmeier and Lachlan Knight will step up this season. Cole Davy will be a big loss as he has moved to Whyalla for work.

Aldgate were in the top-two for most of last season before slipping to third at the end of the minor round and then losing the knockout semi-final to Kangarilla to bring their season to an abrupt end. Captain-Coach Jake Turnbull will take charge of the Gaters again and he will look to the club’s depth and promising juniors to take Aldgate to the finals. Some key players for Aldgate include Mitch Thomas, who had a career-best season in 2020/21 with 437 runs (including two centuries) and Matty Hansen (23 wickets in 2020/21). Jack Woollard, who came across from Palmer last season, will be out for the season with a knee injury.

Stirling missed finals action for the first time since 2016/17 but they have been active in the off-season as they prepare to get back to finals action. Jack Pick will lead the Eagles, while former premiership player Tim ‘Mayor’ Bull has been appointed senior coach. Fast bowler Daniel Parfitt has returned and Harrison Webb has been recruited from Murray Towns club Monarto. Webb is a three-time ‘A’ grade premiership player at Monarto and has made over 4,500 runs and taken more than 200 wickets for the club. Former junior Charlie Fryer will also play at the Eagles this season. Jacob Gonzalez is out for the season through injury.

After spending the 2019/20 season in A2, Uraidla were back in the top flight last season and won four games, including a round one victory over Meadows. Michael Parker will lead Uraidla again this season with Alex Heptinstall and Renzo Gaetan taking on the role of co-coaches. Pete Wilson will be a huge addition for the Demons as he makes the move from district club Sturt. Ben Brumby also joins the club from Hahndorf. Teenager Mason Pitt has left the club to play in the Adelaide Turf competition for Ingle Farm. 

After winning back-to-back premierships in the A2 competition, Scott Creek Ironbank (SCIB) made their way back into A1 last season and had a tough winless campaign. Beau Thomas remains as captain and he will be very happy to have opening bowler Daniel Desengo back ‘full time’ this season. SCIB are also hopeful opening batsman Adam Shearwood will be back at the club this season. The club has worked hard in recent years to improve numbers and they will have three senior and three junior teams competing in 2021/22.

Bridgewater has returned to A1 competition after winning the A2 premiership for the third time in the past seven seasons. Justin Summerill will skipper the Raiders in their return to ‘A’ grade ranks and he will be well supported by veteran Luke Hoyle. Experienced bowler Anthony Jennings will miss the start of the season due to an injury suffered in a Hockey Grand Final recently. The club is hopeful he won’t miss too much of the season. Jackson Hooper, fresh off winning the Mail Medal in the Hills Football League, will also be an important player for the Raiders in 2021/22.

Round 1 fixture (home teams named first)

Aldgate v Bridgewater

Scott Creek ironbank v Stirling

Mount Lofty v Uraidla

Meadows v Kangarilla