The Druids feel like they have the balance right in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Isaacs Howarth Shield.
Having come back into division 1 last season, the Wizards used the opportunity to blood a number of younger players and back in their strong junior program.
While still keen to promote within as much as possible, the Wizards have added some much needed experience and depth into the squad for this season.
Captain-coach Jared Andrews said they feel like they are now in a good place.
“It was a good turning point last season,’ he said. “We have a very good junior program and lots of good kis coming through.
“We gave an opportunity to younger players and got a few Poms over. We had good T20 form but couldn’t convert it to two-day cricket.
“This year we strengthened the stocks. Charith Mendis is back at the club after a year at St Albans.
“Chathura [Rathnaweera Patabedige] has come across from Craigieburn. We wanted to get some batsmen with experience at this level and senior division.”
Andrews said the dynamic of the team had changed with the addition of the new players, but it means they’ve now got more players in the 25-30 range which they were after.
On Saturday, the Wizards got their first proper look at their temporary home ground at Dobson Reserve in Maidstone as they faced Sunshine.
The club is set to be based there for a couple of seasons while Shorten Reserve is upgraded.
“It’s a good batting wicket and there was plenty of grass on top,” he said.
“It’s short all the way around and it runs fast. I can foresee a lot of runs being scored throughout the season.
“It’s good for us as we’ve stacked our batting.”
Rathnaweera Patabedige has been the star with the bat so far.
He has scored two centuries in three matches.
On Saturday, he scored 154 from 118 balls to set up the Wizards total of 5-298.
Andrews said he had been a great recruit for them.
“He was at Craigieburn last year,” he said. “He’s played in premierships at Footscray United.
“He’s a class player and adds to the group.”
Andrews admits he would have bowled at the start of the day had they won the toss like Sunshine did.
He said while they were confident with their bowling to protect the runs they knew Sunshine had a dangerous batting line up.
It was a game that would go down to the wire,
“Hats off to them, they started to attack and it didn’t feel like we had enough fielders on the ground,” Andrews said.
“Two to three overs left, it was anyone’s game. They put us on the back foot and tested us out.
“It was a good day of cricket.”
Sunshine fell just short, bowled out for 280 in the final over.
Luke Shoesmith and Andrews took four wickets each for the Wizards.
Andrews said they felt they were a bit more consistent with both bat and ball across the day which was the difference in the end.
