SAINTS NOT SINNERS
ALLEGATIONS OF POINTS CAP BREACH A ‘COMPLIMENT’
GCA3 flag favourite Guild-St Mary’s has dismissed allegations of “cheating” after a rival club questioned its player points allocations.
The Saints have finished with the wooden spoon in two of the past three seasons, but have emerged as premiership contenders with a newlook first XI following a busy off-season.
Dhanaju Nandana (St Peter’s), Anand Choudhary, Umer Ashgar (Brunswick), Kyle Clark (Stoneyford), Justin Larkins (North Shore), Amrit Chhina (East Belmont), Mandeep Aulakh (Tarneit Central) and Gur Randhawa (Aintree) were all added this season to form a potent line-up.
Guild-St Mary’s has blown sides away this season to be undefeated in five games – it has twice passed 300 in the 50-over competition, with another score of 9-283.
GCA president Rob Vines said one GCA3 club had asked the association to look into a “couple of players” and what they had been allocated in the points cap.
Vines dismissed any concerns about the Saints breaching the cap ceiling of 40, which is set for each of the three divisions.
“The pennant committee’s had a look at it,” he said. “The query was raised in relation to a couple of players and we’re satisfied that the points allocation of those players is OK.
“We’re also satisfied that Guild have been playing within the points cap, albeit they are close to it.
“They are playing close to the cap and have been for most the season, but that’s fine – as long as you’re within it, that’s no problem.”
The GCA’s player points policy was introduced in 2014-15 as an equalisation measure, much like local football competitions.
Points allocations range from two to 10 depending on a player’s history and years of service at a club.
Guild St-Mary’s has allocated its recruits as: Nandana (seven), Choudhary (five), Ashgar (two), Clark (three), Larkins (two), Chhina (two), Aulakh (five) and Randhawa (four), as made available on the GCA website.
Other first XI regulars include TJ Singh (two), Amrit Sahi (four), Chris Dickenson (two) and Thomas Kent (three).
Guild-St Mary’s president Grant Stripling said he took the accusations it had breached the points cap as a “compliment”. “We’re not breaking any rules,” Stripling said. “People are only saying this because we’re winning and undefeated. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a compliment.
“I gave myself a pat on the back because we recruited smartly.
“We’re aware of the points system and what we’re up against. We targeted guys to keep our points under that.”
He said the club had heard “rumours” that it had been “accused
of cheating”. “Clubs weren’t happy that we were beating them I suppose,” he said.
Stripling said there was “no doubt in my mind” that Guild-St Mary’s was playing within the rules.
“We did speak to other players that would have been seven pointers but we pretty much couldn’t facilitate having them at our club,” he said.
“A lot of the guys we got have only played hard wicket the last five or six seasons, which makes them a lower point (value) than someone who’s played first XI turf cricket.
“We worked with the GCA all the way through . . . before we even spoke to guys. We were diligent about it from the start and we were smart about who we recruited.”