Saints claim First XI premiership with draw against Blues
- Josh Ward
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
A dominant batting display by St Kilda has seen them win the First XI premiership for the first time in 19 years.
The draw sees the Saints win their 19th First XI premiership having been the higher-ranked team heading into the game.
For the Blues another strong season ends on a sour note, returning to the First XI decider for the fifth time in the last six completed seasons.
The John Scholes Medal for the Player of the Final was awarded to Marcus Harris after his 161 off 374 balls, which included 13 boundaries.
Adam Crosthwaite also scored his ninth Victorian Premier Cricket hundred while Xavier Crone, put in a lion-hearted display for the Blues, taking 6-138 from 48.5 overs.
St Kilda were sent into bat first on Day 1 by Carlton captain-coach Evan Gulbis and took full toll, finishing the day at 4-266.
Day 2 saw a similar story, with St Kilda just the three wickets and ending the day with 482 runs on the board off 192 overs.
After scoring an additional 146 runs in the opening session and a half on Day 3, the Saints were eventually dismissed in the 240th over for 628 runs.
Carlton then batted out the rest of the final day, scoring 95 runs off 47 overs. However they lost five wickets in the process, with all five being dismissed by Luke Destito (2) and Tom Russ (3).
St Kilda’s First XI team are the final side to be confirmed as premiers in the 2024-25 Victorian Premier Cricket season.
They join Fitzroy Doncaster’s Second XI as well as Prahran’s Third and Fourth XI as premiers in the men’s competition this year.
The Lions claimed the Seconds premiership with a seven-wicket victory over Melbourne Uni at University Oval. Bowler Liam Myott was named Player of the Final after taking 5-35 off 23 overs.
Prahran’s Third XI won by four wickets at Toorak Park over Melbourne whilst its Fourths defeated the Students by six wickets at Walter Galt Reserve.
Ashwin Appu won the Third XI Player of the Final after claiming figures of 4-17 off just under 23 overs.
Max Pritchard’s 55 runs, which included six maximums, along with his 3-23 off 11 overs saw him win the Player of the Final in the fourths.