Across the 2023/24 summer of cricket a total of ten cricketers who have represented the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) have earnt recognition at domestic and/or international level as part of a new wave of talent ascending the ranks of Australian cricket.
Eight of the ten players began their career at Melbourne as part of our Junior Pathway programs before going on to higher honours, a reflection of the Club’s ongoing commitment to player development.The following Men’s and Women’s Premier cricketers have been selected at domestic or international level:
- Harkirat Bajwa (Australia U19)
- Kieran Elliott (Tasmania)
- Hasrat Gill (Australia U19)
- Sam Harper (Victoria and Melbourne Stars)
- Ella Hayward (National Women’s Indigenous team, Victoria and Melbourne Renegades)
- Campbell Kellaway (Australia A, Victoria and Melbourne Stars)
- Rhiann O’Donnell (Victoria and Melbourne Renegades)
- Fergus O’Neill (Victoria and Melbourne Renegades)
- Georgia Prestwidge (Victoria and Melbourne Renegades)
- Will Pucovski (Victoria)
Former MCC Club Champion Fergus O’Neill’s efforts for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield competition have caught the eye of many. He currently sits in eighth position on the competition’s wicket tally with 28 wickets at an average of 17.53, and he was the recipient of the prestigious Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year Award at the recent Australian Cricket Awards.
Will Pucovski also confirmed his return to top form in the Sheffield Shield last week, with the right-hander compiling an encouraging ton for Victoria against a New South Wales bowling attack featuring Test spinner Nathan Lyon.
He has also signed a short-term deal with Leicestershire to play County Cricket.
Alongside O’Neill and Pucovski, Campbell Kellaway and Sam Harper have also performed well across the course of the season for Victoria, with Harper blasting the third-fastest Sheffield Shield century in history earlier in the season as part of an 151-run onslaught off just 104 balls against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
Notably, MCC product and First XI premiership player from last season, Kieran Elliott, made his debut for Tasmania last week against Western Australia. After moving to Hobart in the off-season to pursue greater opportunities, the right-arm quick was rewarded with selection and claimed the wicket of Test all-rounder Cameron Green as his maiden first-class scalp.
The emergence of Hasrat Gill in the Women’s First XI competition was underlined when the young leg-spinning all-rounder was named in the Australian U19 squad to tour Sri Lanka in March, 2024, after compiling 398 runs and claiming 22 wickets for the Dees in the home-and-away season. The tour will be a key lead-up to the ICC Women’s Under 19 World Cup early next year, with Gill hoping to follow in the footsteps of Harkirat Bajwa, Hayward and Kellaway as MCC players to represent Australia in U19 World Cups in recent times.
Gill, alongside Victorian teammates Hayward, Rhiann O’Donnell and Georgia Prestwidge, have played critical roles for the MCC throughout the season, which has resulted in the side finishing 16 points clear in first place on the One Day ladder.