Victoria preview: Bright spots emerge after turbulent winter

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Amid a tumultuous off-season for Victoria, in which long-time mentor Dulip Samaraweera resigned two weeks after being appointed head coach and was then subsequently banned for 20 years, Andy Christie slid into the hot seat.

"It happened quite quickly," Christie told cricket.com.au about his appointment as coach in the aftermath of Samaraweera's resignation. "I'd actually gone away on leave and came back to my old role … then before you know it, you're in the job."

Where Samaraweera's resume from his playing days included seven Tests for Sri Lanka and a first-class batting average around 40, Christie's credentials are not as immediately apparent.

The 34-year-old is a former competitive road cyclist and secondary schoolteacher who moved into a female talent development role at Cricket Victoria on the back of coaching Premier Cricket club Dandenong.

But he follows in a line of Victorian coaches whose ability to connect with and nurture talent is prized more highly than what they did or didn’t necessarily do during their playing days. His predecessor Jarrad Loughman fell into that category, as does Simon Helmot (who Christie works under at the Melbourne Renegades' WBBL side) and current Australian men's team assistant Andre Borovec.

Christie had to draw on that expertise when thrown in the deep end following the exit of Samaraweera.

"You're sort of playing catch up there for the first few weeks, doing all the work most of the other coaches would have done over that May-onwards period," said the new head coach, who was speaking before Samaraweera's Cricket Australia-imposed punishment was handed down.

"It was sort of like cramming for an exam in a way, because the players were coming back (to train) very quickly, and we just had to get on with it."

It has not been the only winter change down at the Junction Oval, with new mentors for bowling (Simon Mackin, the former Western Australia paceman) and batting (Blake Reed, another Perth product who was an allrounder at Premier level) also coming on board.

CV's new T20 high-performance managers, Wade Seccombe (Melbourne Renegades) and Clint McKay (Melbourne Stars), have also been valuable resources, says Christie.

Meg Lanning will once again be the star attraction for the Vics and her experience might be even more important this summer given it's conceivable none of their Australia players – Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Annabel Sutherland, Kim Garth and Tayla Vlaeminck – will play in the WNCL.

It will be a challenge for a side that relied on Lanning's runs last season (492 of them at the sky-high average of 82) as well the all-round skills of captain Molineux, their barometer in 2023-24 with 17 wickets and 167 runs in six games. Victoria won every game Molineux played and lost all but one of the ones she didn't.

There are signs their group are up for it however.

Victoria’s run of seven wins from their final eight games last season was also built on strong performances from their other Sophies – Sophie Day, the left-arm spinner who took 15 wickets at 30.73, and Sophie Reid, the top-order bat, who averaged almost 50 – as well as Ella Hayward, Georgia Prestwidge, Tess Flintoff and Milly Illingworth.

Day and Flintoff, alongside Nicole Faltum, were involved in the winter 'A' series against India in Queensland, while the newly contracted Hasrat Gill is the most notable of the Vics taking part in the current Australia U19 tri-series in the Sunshine State.

Sasha Moloney meanwhile has crossed from three-time defending champions Tasmania to bolster Victoria's bowling stocks.

Victoria's 2024-25 squad: Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Poppy Gardner, Kim Garth*, Hasrat Gill, Ella Hayward, Olivia Henry, Milly Illingworth, Meg Lanning, Rhys McKenna, Sophie Molineux*, Sasha Moloney, Jasmine Nevins, Ellyse Perry*, Georgia Prestwidge, Sophie Reid, Annabel Sutherland*, Tayla Vlaeminck*, Georgia Wareham*

Ins: Hasrat Gill, Sasha Moloney (Tasmania) 

Outs: Rhiann O’Donnell, Samantha Bates

* Denotes Cricket Australia contract

Possible XI for first WNCL match (v NSW on Oct 3): Nicole Faltum (c/wk), Sophie Reid, Meg Lanning, Tess Flintoff, Ella Hayward, Rhys McKenna, Georgia Prestwidge, Sophie Day, Milly Illingworth, Sasha Moloney, Jasmine Nevins

Last season's WNCL result: Third

The inside word with head coach Andy Christie

The pre-season

"It's been great – a bit of a mixed bag with players being here, there and everywhere. A number of players competing over in The Hundred, a few players in the Australia A series which was great, then a few in the U19s space as well. So at times we’ve had a squad of 20 and then at times we've had nine players here. It has been a balance of managing the resources we have available and the facilities. We've been really lucky recently with (Junction Oval curator) Brad Baptist getting us on the turf really early."

Areas for improvement

"The players have been really great. Their experience last year has really leant them into having some focus time and more purpose with what they're doing. The lessons that came out of last year were that the way they trained needed to be more pointed towards performance and players having real clarity on their roles.

"The players did quite well reflecting mid-last (season) and going, 'Where have our performances not been (up to standard) at the level?' Linking in with our performance psych(ologist), we've been doing a lot of work on our focus – how can we keep that in the right space so we're not getting distracted or moving into a phase where we can't control our emotions? Designing training has been around giving them opportunities to explore that, which at times has been challenging for them. They've found out a lot about themselves in terms of how they deal with stress."

Aussie player availability

"It's a massive year for them and we're really lucky that when they're back here and they're training, they're involved and they're engaged and they're really supportive of what we're trying to do. If we get a chance for them to play, the learnings that can happen for our wider group are valuable."

Meg

"Meg (Lanning) has been really good. The back-end of last year she fit into that role working with our batting group. She'll continue that in terms of leading and mentoring and driving some really good conversations. Back to that point about being direct with our focus and what our attention is on, she's been really good at making sure we're sticking to the right process there. We're really excited to have her there as a bit of a support network for not only the players but the coaches as well."

Player to watch

"We've got Sophie Day coming off a couple of great years with her performances in domestic cricket. She's been going really well. The likes of Rhys McKenna and Georgia Prestwidge and have been around the system and in our Victorian environment now for a couple of years, so I'm really excited to see where they land."

Young guns

"Hazrat Gill is one that's up and coming in terms of her involvement in the Australian Under-19 program, and a few others who are in our emerging player program who aren't contracted – Samara Dulvin, Ribhya Syan, Mia Perrin, Aanliya Cheeran and Sara Kennedy."

Team to beat

"It's probably hard to go past Tasmania. They've just been the rock over the last few years and they're leading the way in terms of knowing themselves and how they play and how they get the best out of each other. We've fortunate having Sasha Moloney come across this year and already her influence on our players has been significant."