Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Led by a new coach and fresh off training at WA’s home of cricket, one of the biggest premier cricket clubs is entering the upcoming season with a sense of “unfinished business”.
After Joondalup Districts Cricket Club missed out on a finals appearance by one game last season, club president Craig Gerrans said there’s a renewed sense of hunger across all teams.
“I think the feeling of unfinished business and I think the players believed that we should have played finals cricket last season … to finish off like that, has given them a drive to ensure we hit the ground running first game of the year to set ourselves up for finals instead of playing catch up,” he said.
One significant addition to the side is new head coach Brian Shields, who has spent the past eight years as a high performance coach at the WACA.
Shields represented Joondalup at first grade level and won a colts premiership in 2005, and Gerrans said it’s exciting to have him back.
“He’s experienced and has obviously good knowledge of premier cricket and our team as well, because he’s dealt with a lot of the guys there,” he said.
“He’s been able to coach the coaches, give them guidance and set expectations and show them how to coach their groups.”
Preseason began in early July, with the club arranging for all grades to train at the WACA ground in East Perth for the first time.
“We had the opportunity to train at the WACA; it’s a new indoor facility which is magnificent. (The players) are excited about going to training because of the facility, so it obviously puts people in a position to work and train hard because they’ve got great facilities … which has given them all the opportunity to focus on what they do best,” Gerrans said.
“We as a club invested the cost of that training … and we’re hoping that will definitely help pay dividends for the season.”
While the first division playing group has remained fairly consistent for the last three years, this season will bring in a secret weapon from Wanneroo — spin bowler Matt Carroll.
Captaining the side is bowler Joe Inglis. His brother, Australian Test and ODI wicketkeeper batter Josh Inglis, has also been a long-time player at Joondalup and may get down to the club this season if his national schedule allows.
Several older players have also joined the predominantly younger group to offer more experience, and Gerrans said there’s depth across all the grades to challenge for finals.
“The coach is really invested in the existing playing group, all the homegrown players, so we haven’t looked at this season bringing an overseas player to the club. So we’re going to sort of look at running what we got — we’re pretty confident in what we’ve got,” he said.
“We’re a growing club. We’re a big club, probably the biggest premier cricket club in the State, so we’ve really put an emphasis on giving the whole playing group from senior to junior the best opportunity to develop and play their best cricket.”
Gerrans feels particularly confident with the club’s bowling stocks, especially after its own first-grade fast seam bowler Jordan Quiggin was named in the WA squad for a one-day tournament against Tasmania last weekend.
The 2026-27 premier cricket season will kick off in two weeks, and Gerrans said he’s looking forward to hosting teams at Joondalup Sports Association and reminding them why the 128-year-old club is one of the hardest sides to play across every grade.
