WDCA names Melbourne Country Week, Festival of Cricket squad

The association has announced an initial 31-player squad for the time-honoured carnival, where Warrnambool will return to play in the top-tier - the provincial division - after winning last year's division two championship in its 100^th year.

The carnival will be played from February 12-16, 2024 with the Ferntree Gully association the reigning champion.

Preparations for the carnival will begin with the traditional Festival of Cricket tournament against rival south-west associations with clashes against South West and Portland to be played in the coming weeks.

There are plenty of new faces in what looks an evenly balanced squad with four imports named alongside many of the association's most experienced and seasoned stars.

Three players currently with division two clubs have been rewarded for strong form with the remaining squad coming from division one.

Allansford-Panmure's Ethan Boyd, now playing Premier cricket with Fitzroy-Doncaster, and Englishman Jack Burnham are the only two players from the championship-winning squad who won't be returning.

Mungean said it was tough to finalise the squad but was thrilled with the depth of talent at his disposal. He said players could still be brought in depending on availability.

"The squad is very talented with a great mix of local and international players, experienced and young up and coming players," Mungean said.

"Players selected have been rewarded for their early season good form."

Mungean said the squad had a good balance to counter different types of wickets in Melbourne conditions.

"There is a group of quality spinners that will play a huge role at Melbourne in slowing the game down and taking wickets and quality experienced quicks that balance the bowling attack," he said.

"There is great batting depth and experience in the squad and there are a lot of multi-dimensional players who have more than one elite skill that will give the squad options and won't be relying on one or two players to win games."

After the success at last year's carnival, Mungean said it was a massive opportunity for the association and stressed the importance of strong preparation.

"Winning the division two title last year will give the squad great belief that we can be competitive and push the other Provincial teams," he said.

"The Festival of Cricket will be used to expose players to higher standard of cricket and get them ready for Melbourne."

The over 40s representative team will also start on November 12 and is looking for players. Those interested can get in contact Jason Mungean on 0407 097 910.

WDCA Country Week and Festival of Cricket squad: Chris Bant, Kade Parker, Simon Richardson (Allansford-Panmure); Damon Cooper, Campbell Love, Sam Thewlis (Brierly-Christ Church); Nigel Mupurura (Koroit); Theo Opperman, Joe Kenna, Matt Petherick, Josh Stapleton (Merrivale); Todd Lamont (Mortlake); Geoff Williams (Nestles); Jake Dickinson (Nirranda); Jake Louth, Alex Browne, Jimmy Elford (Northern Raiders); Isaac Kenna (Noorat Terang); Bailey Jenkinson, Hank Schlaghecke (North Warrnambool Eels); Alistair Templeton, Max Green, James Van De Peer, Henry Bensch, Alex Jennings (Port Fairy); Cameron Williams, Hamish Huffadine, Craig Britten (Russells Creek); Ben Threlfall, Joe Nyikos (West Warrnambool); Zavier Mungean (Wesley Yambuk Titans).

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