The Hills Cricket Association (HCA) ‘A1’ season gets underway on Saturday (8/10) with nine teams trying to get their hands on the prestigious Von Doussa Shield. Games will be 45-overs per side, up from the 40-over contests from the past two seasons. Stirling won their first ‘A’ grade premiership in 28 years with an upset win over Meadows in March, and they’ll be desperate to follow up this success in 2022/23. It was an amazing turnaround in fortunes for Stirling who had spent three seasons in 'B' grade in the 2010's. The Eagles had many contributors last season with Daniel Gonzalez (599 runs) and Harrison Webb (391 runs) their leading batsmen, while they had six bowlers take 15 wickets or more, including skipper Jack Pick (24). Perennial powerhouse Meadows have been runners-up the past two seasons and they can never be written off with Rohan Reid, Haydn Reid, Chad Dawe and Luke Tonkin still amongst the best players in the competition. 2020/21 premiers Mount Lofty are always competitive and will want to make up for their disappointing exit from the finals at the preliminary final stage last season. Josh Healey (665 runs) and Adam Carthew (34 wickets) were their standout performers last season and they’ll once again have a big say in the Redcaps’ fortunes. Aldgate have been knocked out of the premiership race in the first week of finals action the past two seasons and they’ll be boosted by key recruit Shaun Atkins who joins the ‘Gaters’ from Gumeracha. Atkins made 988 runs and took 33 wickets in the Torrens Valley competition in 2021/22. Skipper Jake Turnbull, Frank Clements and Josh Callaghan will be other key players for Aldgate this season.

Kangarilla missed out on finals action last season after being on top of the ladder at the Christmas/New Year break. ‘Kangies’ will once again look to veterans Steve Featherstone and Che Martinsen, while Lachlan Knight (367 runs last season) and Ben Evans (21 wickets) are promising young players for the club. Uraidla won five games last season and will look to improve on that return in 2022/23. Alex Heptinstall and Peter Wilson provide a touch of class with the bat, while veterans Simon Parker and Renzo Gaetan are always consistent performers with the ball. Scott Creek Ironbank also won five games last season and will be confident of further improvement this season. Veterans Andy Adams, Daniel Desengo and Adam Shearwood will provide great leadership, while Thomas Watton will look to build on his best ever season with the bat after he scored 327 runs, including a maiden century against Bridgewater, in 2021/22. Bridgewater had a tough season in 2021/22 with just two victories to finish on the bottom of the ladder. They have stayed in ‘A’ grade ranks for this season and will hope for a rise up the ladder. Veteran batsmen Luke Hoyle and Justin Summerill combined for more than 800 runs last season but they need more support in the runs department. One of the shining lights for the Raiders last season was young leg-spinner Finn Sullivan-Llewellyn who claimed 17 wickets in his first season of ‘A’ grade cricket. Mylor will compete in ‘A1’ ranks for the first time in more than 30 years in a major move for the club. The ‘Pipers’ dominated the ‘A2’ competition last season with just one loss on their way to the premiership. Mylor dominated with the ball last season with skipper Michael Warburton, Thomas Jensen, Ben James and Oliver Barnes combining for a whopping 125 wickets. Their batting was also very good with James having a huge season with 805 runs, while Shane Maslin scored 467 runs. It will be interesting to see how the ‘Pipers’ compete in ‘A’ grade ranks after years of dominating the lower grades.

Round 1 (Home teams named first)

Mount Lofty v Mylor

Scott Creek Ironbank v Uraidla

Kangarilla v Stirling

Meadows v Bridgewater

Aldgate has the bye