Captain fantastic: Cobram's Adam De Cicco will lead the CPW Panthers this season.
Photo by
Rodney Braithwaite
Goulburn Valley Bush Bash League is back for another season and Cobram Panel Works Panthers have wasted no time in building an impressive squad.
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Set to be captained by Cobram's Adam De Cicco the Panthers will feature Victorian first-class cricketer James Seymour along with the talents of Essendon teammates Oliver and Isaac Willett.
Franchise manager Mark Haberfield said it was a huge effort from the organisers to get the league back up and running again for the 2022-23 season.
“We are hoping to go one better than we have in the past and get into the final,” Haberfield said.
“We’ve got three Premier cricketers coming up, James Seymour and the Willett brothers.
“They (the brothers) are local guys, so to have them playing for the CPW Panthers is brilliant.
“For us it’s about the local guys and giving them a shot at playing some higher standard cricket and mixing it with these cricketers from Shepparton.”
Plying their trade alongside these big names will be local duo Damian Cupido and Kepler Lukies, while Barooga’s Riley Gow is expected to “clear the light towers of Deakin Reserve” after making the switch from the SRP Mud Dogs.
Another player to watch is fellow Barooga talent Will Sharp.
The opening quick is expected to take the new ball for the pink-and-black side.
“Across the board we’re just looking to set a reasonable total and then try and restrict it with the bowling, so our batting will be our strength,” Haberfield said.
“We’re hoping to set reasonable targets that our bowlers can bowl to.
“I think ‘big bombs’ is going to be the buzzword, lots of sixes, lots of fours, lots of high-flying catches and things like that.”
Ready to go: Barooga product Riley Gow is expected to cause plenty of damage with the bat for the Panthers.
The Panthers will kick off their season on Sunday at Deakin Reserve, with a 2pm clash against Hurley’s Hotel Hounds pencilled in.
Round two action will hit Cobram about one month later, with the Panthers taking on the SRP Mud Dogs on January 15.
“That’ll be huge for us at the Cobram Showgrounds,” Haberfield said.
“We’re hoping to replicate what we did two seasons ago when we had over 450 people attend the game and create a bit of a carnival atmosphere.”
CPW Panthers’ Bush Bash fixture
Round 1 - v Hurley’s Hotel Hounds - 2pm, Sunday, December 11 at Deakin Reserve.
Round 2 - v SRP Mud Dogs - 2pm, Sunday, January 15 at Cobram Showgrounds.
Round 3 - v Jarvis Delahey Crushers - 11am, Sunday, January 29 at Kyabram Recreation Reserve.
