New Cardinia Cricket Club coach Mark Cooper wants to improve the Bulls across the board next season and will target fielding as a priority.
By Brad Kingsbury
MORNINGTON Peninsula allrounder Mark Cooper has replaced Cameron Knight as coach of Cardinia Cricket Club for next season.
Knight’s oneseason tenure was turbulent and included a reprimand and suspension, which deflected the talented Agrade team’s focus at times during the season.
The Bulls finished in fourth position and were knocked out of flag contention by eventual premier Beaconsfield in the semifinal round.
Cooper expects to retain most, if not all, of last season’s team and believes that it has the potential to improve and challenge the Tigers’ dominance of the competition.
Cooper started his cricket with Cranbourne Cricket Club and graduated from juniors to be selected for the Victorian under17 squad.
He progressed to district level and played with Dandenong for three years before returning to Cranbourne, where he was appointed coach at the age of 21 and held that position for two years, winning a premiership in Turf 2 in his second season.
He then transferred to coach Baden Powell Cricket Club in the Mornington Peninsula Cricket Association, where he spent the past three seasons, with the club’s top five teams making the finals last season.
His experience includes a stint in England during the offseason last year, playing cricket in the Midlands competition. He also represented the MPCA in this year’s Country Week series and hopes to make the WGCA Warriors team this season.
Cooper, an opening batsman and legspin bowler, has retained a connection with the WGCA, in particular Cardinia, through his strong friendship with Bulls’ captain and former coach Ben DaRose, who encouraged him to apply for the position.
“Ben took on the job at Cardi at the same time as I did at Cranbourne, so we had a bit in common,” he said.
“I’ve known Ben and his wife Jayne for a while and I’m looking forward to playing with him and the club.”
Cooper said he was thrilled to take up the appointment and knows that there is plenty of talent in the club after watching last season’s semifinal.
“It worked out well because Cardinia played the week after Baden Powell was knocked out of the finals and I was able to have a look at them,” he said.
“I will probably bring in one or two players with me but I will assess what talent is there after training starts and work from there.”
“One area I’m very keen to improve is the fielding. That looked to be pretty ordinary and that is an area that hard work can improve a lot,” he said. “It’s high on my priority list.”
