Ahead of the next Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield campaign, Waaia is entering the signings market with a bang.
The Bombers have made a huge splash in the form of two big incomings, including the return of star batsman Liam Evans to the fold.
The powerful opener bowed out of Cricket Shepparton’s northernmost A-grade club two years ago — and did he ever go out on top.
Evans won the 2021-22 Lightfoot Medal as the Haisman’s most valuable player in dominant fashion, racking up more than 400 runs to go alongside 13 wickets in a scintillating campaign for the Bombers.
For the past two seasons, Evans has been tearing up the Murray Valley Cricket Association representing Nathalia, synced up with his footballing exploits for the same town in the Murray Football League.
Waaia’s Mitch Cleeland was more than thrilled to welcome a dominating force from the past back home.
“We had him for two years, so we know what we’re getting with Liam,” Cleeland said.
“We were disappointed to lose him, but everyone’s very keen to have him back.
“He’s an extremely talented cricketer and everything he does, he does it flawlessly.
“If we can attain some success, he’ll be a massive driving factor.”
The Bombers were far from done there though, confirming the signing of South African Morgan Potgieter as one of the club’s two overseas representatives.
Potgieter, 24, replaces the departing Reinhardt Engler, meaning there will be significant shoes to fill this summer when he wraps up his current stint playing B-division cricket in the Devon cricket system.
Cleeland outlined how a common connection overseas got the deal over the line.
“We got Morgan through the same agent we got the two imports through last year,” Cleeland said.
“He’s an all-rounder who bowls medium-pace and bats in the top order, so he’ll be replacing Reinhardt and Quinton Venter will be returning as well.
“Those two guys fit into our group well (last season), but we got chatting and Morgan seemed like a great fit for what we wanted; he was extremely happy to come on board.
“We’re not going to heap any pressure on him that he doesn’t need, but hopefully he can play a similar role of importance (to Engler) in the top order.”
Waaia largely dominated proceedings through large chunks of the Haisman regular season last time around, finishing comfortably atop the pile before a sudden finals capitulation.
Cleeland is optimistic these roster moves will bring about being a renewed threat to the sides around them though.
“We’d like to think we would improve on last year,” Cleeland said.
“We’re quite a young group and it’s hard to predict, but from an individual player point of view, we believe we had enough talent to do it last year.
“We hope that we’re an as-strong or perhaps slightly stronger side now.”