Three of the Victorian Premier Cricket underage competitions have reached their climax in the last week.
From the second week of January to Grand Finals on the 21st and 23rd of January, all three competitions were hard fought throughout that period.
In the end three different premiers were crowned, with Geelong going back-to-back in the Marg Jennings Cup, Ringwood winning the U18 women’s and St Kilda claiming the U16 Dowling Shield.
Premier Women’s U18 Competition
The U18 Women’s competition came to a very dramatic conclusion, with Ringwood crowned premiers after finishing the regular season in fourth.
Whilst the Rams had one loss to their name in the regular season, each of the top three, Dandenong, Melbourne and Carlton, remained undefeated.
Dandenong would then fall to the eventual premiers by 14 runs whilst the Blues went on to defeat Melbourne by five wickets in their semi-final.
Carlton was in a strong position on Grand Final day at Princes Park, having Ringwood nine down for 149 while still needing 80 for victory.
Enter Samara Dulvin. The Rams star all-rounder took control of the final wicket partnership, finishing on 155 not out to help see Ringwood over the line.
Dulvin took home Best on Ground honours for her innings whilst she also made her Victoria debut in the WNCL less than a week later.
She would also finish as the competition’s leading run scorer, scoring 450 runs at an average of 90 and sitting just under 200 runs ahead of teammate Tegan Rule, who finished second.
Carlton seam bowler Shivani Narendran took home the leading wicket taker mantle, finishing with 14 wickets at an average of eight.
Charli McLennan, who took five wickets in the decider, finished second with 12 wickets at just under 9 runs per wicket.
U15 Female Marg Jennings Cup
The Marg Jennings Cup’s climax was also just as dramatic as the previous one, with Geelong winning off the last ball.
They would also finish undefeated throughout the entire season whilst the remaining finalists, Carlton, Prahran and Melbourne, each had one loss to their name in the regular season.
Both Prahran and Geelong comfortably defended totals against Carlton and Melbourne respectively, setting up a rematch of the 2023-24 Marg Jennings decider.
True Blues all-rounder Anushka Mehta’s 59 would help boost her side’s first innings total to 166 off their 40 overs at Kardinia Park West.
The Cats would then chase that total down off the very last ball, with Lily Shand and Clio Cameron holding their nerve to see their side over the line.
Mehta had figures of 2-26 off eight overs which, on top of her game-high score, saw her rewarded Best on Ground honours.
She was also the competition’s leading run scorer throughout the season, scoring 271 runs in total and finishing 59 runs ahead of Geelong’s April Chaudhary.
Chaudhary and Mehta’s teammates, Erin Moloney and Dakota Edmonds, both finished as the competitions leading wicket takers, taking 13 wickets each throughout the season.
U16 Male Dowling Shield
Thursday saw the Dowling Shield come to a conclusion, with St Kilda crowned premiers for the seventh time in the competition’s history.
Like Geelong in the Marg Jennings Cup, the Saints also finished undefeated. The remaining top four sides, Geelong, Fitzroy Doncaster and Melbourne, all had one loss to their name.
Both semi-finals went down to the wire, with the Saints winning off the last over, with one wicket in hand, against Melbourne and Geelong defeating Fitzroy Doncaster by nine runs.
Geelong batted first in the decider and were led by Henry Hatswell’s 65 runs, setting the Saints a total of 214 for victory.
Losing only three wickets throughout the innings, St Kilda would eventually get over the line with one over remaining at the Junction Oval.
Louis Stevenson capped off a stellar all-round season for himself, with his innings of 61 not out and his bowling figures of 3-35 seeing him awarded Best on Ground.
Geelong’s Charlie Mahncke finished as the competition’s leading run scorer, scoring 306 runs while finishing 26 runs ahead of Fitzroy Doncaster’s Sandeep Ahuja in that column.
Essendon’s Jackson Martin 16 wicket season was also enough to see him take home the leading wicket taker mantle, finishing one wicket ahead of St Kilda’s Jack O’Brien.