City Colts aiming for A grade rise in 26/27

The start of the domestic cricket season is right around the corner, with the first over a little more than two weeks away, and one local side is aiming to be a contender from the first ball. City Colts’ A grade side has been a lower finisher in the top level of Wangaratta and District Cricket Association play in recent years, taking out the wooden spoon last year and not making finals since the 2023/24 season. However, A grade skipper Kent Braden said the signs were positive early doors. “We’ve had a couple of unofficial sessions, but we started last Thursday with our main training,” he said. “We still had a lot involved with football umpiring and playing, so hopefully this week and going forward we can get a few more on the track. “We had a practice game last week against McKinnon Cricket Club where [former Colts player] Josh Nanson is now, they’ve got four ex-Richmond Premier players in their squad – they probably took it a bit easy on us towards the end, but we ended up winning. “We bowled really well, Tom Moore got 30-odd and Hugh Spring got 30-odd, so there were some good signs. “We’re going to be pretty young this year, we’ve lost a few players, so we’ll be relying on our youth again.” The Colts will be without young and emerging talents Jed, Max and Gus Marek, who have joined Cricket Albury Wodonga outfit New City CC, while William and Corey Petersen will play out at Moyhu this year. It means the club will be missing their number one and two top run scorers from last year, as well as a combined 29 A grade poles from last season. “They’re always going to be welcome back, but it’s disappointing as a club, given the amount of work we’ve put into all five of those kids and how good a player they all were,” Braden said. “We’ve got Will Creed back, he’s had a few years off, I think he filled in for Gapsted a few times over the last couple of years, but he’s back. “I’m pretty positive we’ll get 10 or 11 games out of Mitch Howell who’s an A grade premiership player with us, Matt Lister’s back at the club. “We gain a bit of quality and experience with those guys, especially in the age demographic, so that’ll be handy. “We’ve still got Ben Feldtmann, Luca Solimo, Hugh Spring as our younger guys, we’ve still got Connor Ormond. “We’ve picked up Ryan Parsons from Rovers United Bruck, he’s a good, young kid who’s looking for a bit more opportunity. “We’ll struggle at times, but I think our bowling will be highly competitive.” The 2026/27 WDCA A grade season commences on Saturday 10 October, with the Colts at home to the newly rebranded Delatite Devils in round one.

City Colts aiming for A grade rise in 26/27

Wangaratta Chronicle, Wednesday, 23 September, 2026

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