The new Coastal Marlins head coach has lifted the lid on how they spent their draft pick budget and their key players ahead of the new premier league competition.
Following two successful seasons, Century Cricket Competitions Brisbane Senior Tournament (formerly the Brisbane Premier League), has expanded interstate and rebranded to a 100-ball format.
This year 10 senior teams will participate in two pools of five, including two new teams the Great Barrier Reef Rays and the Eastern Comets Adelaide All Stars.
Flegler, who has previously coached the younger age groups and endured premiership success in 2021 with the under-15 boys team, said he was looking forward to the coming months.
“I’ve been involved with the Marlins since they started through junior coaching, the senior auctions and the junior draft which I’ve really enjoyed,” he said.
“To get a chance to work with the senior squad is exciting and I’m looking forward to it.”
Prior to the 2023 Century Cricket draft night each team could retain a maximum of six players from the previous season.
Each team had $3m plus any excess money from last season to spend and Flegler said the Marlins were confident leading in.
“We met up a few times in the lead up to the draft, just to develop a plan and identify who we wanted to keep from last year and then look at which players were available,” he said.
“We identified the guys that we thought we could spend the money on so we had a plan of how we were going about it all but a lot of it depends on which players come up where in the draft order.
“Apart from our big signings we were also able to get a number of players at terrific value so we’re really happy knowing that each player, in their certain category, will be able to contribute at some point throughout the weekend.
“We came away from the draft just about spot-on.”
The competition will also feature top-string players such as former Australian captain Tim Paine (Great Barrier Reef Rays), Assadollah Vala (Bayside Pirates), Param Uppal (Gold Coast Waveriders) and Nick Larkin (Great Barrier Reef Rays).
“In these sorts of tournaments with players coming from everywhere it’s generally the side that gels well both on and off the field that do pretty well,” Flegler said.
“The interstate players certainly bring a new dimension to the competition, obviously there’s a few international players in the mix too and we’re pretty excited with the calibre of players that we’ve landed.
“It’s short and sharp but we think we’ve got some guys that are genuine match winners and if enough of them step up during the weekend we should do quite well.”
See below for what Flegler had to say on the Coastal Marlins team.
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2023 Squad Breakdown
Jay Lenton (NSW) (Retained)
Thunder wicketkeeper Jay Lenton looks on during the Big Bash League (BBL) Challenger Final cricket match between the Melbourne Stars and the Sydney Thunder at the MCG in Melbourne in 2020. Picture: AAP Image/Scott Barbour.
“He’ll lead us, he’s a top order bat and wicketkeeper that’s super experienced,” he said.
“I’ll be supporting him throughout the weekend and he’ll again be outstanding for us.”
Kris Glass (Retained)
Kris Glass bowls for NBD in the A-grade cricket semi final in 2021. Picture: Nev Madsen.
“He’s a dynamic top order batsman,” he said.
“He’ll have a licence at the top of the order, he comes from Toowoomba with a hockey background and was super impressive last year.
“He’ll take a bit of the bowling on too.
Donal Whyte (Retained)
Valleys cricketer Donal Whyte (left).
“A right arm quick that will lead our attack with the ball,” he said.
“He’s a first grade player from Valleys and his execution is really good.
“He can bowl upfront or in the death overs as he’s a really adaptable player.”
Mitch Cook (Retained)
Mitch Cook bowls for Noosa back in 2014. Picture: Geoff Potter.
“He bowls right-arm off spin and is a very handy low order batsman,” he said.
“He’s very talented on both sides of the ball and is our number one spinner.”
Nick Selman (Retained)
Nick Selman of Glamorgan raises his bat after scoring 50 runs during the Royal London One-Day Cup semi final match between Glamorgan and Essex at Sophia Gardens on August 16, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. Picture: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images.
“He’ll want to tell everyone that he’s an emerging right arm quick but Selman can bat anywhere in the top four, has different gears and will be one of our leading batsmen,” he said.
“He’ll bowl some overs here and there but also with Selman is he’s played a lot of white ball cricket in England so we’ll be leaning on him with his valuable experience.”
Daniel Hughes (NSW) (Prior Pick)
Daniel Hughes of the Blues celebrates scoring a century during the Marsh One Day Cup match between Tasmania and New South Wales at Blundstone Arena, on November 17, 2022, in Hobart, Australia. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images.
“Not being able to have Joel Davies from last year, as he’s been signed to NSW and they couldn’t commit, Jay Lenton was able to help acquire Dan Hughes for us who is an outstanding player,” he said.
“He’s probably the best white ball player not to have played for Australia domestically.
“We’ll all be learning a lot from him I think.”
Harry Sippel ($50,000)
Gympie cricket player Harry Sippel. Picture: Zahner Photography
“A good young player from Gympie,” he said.
“We’re really excited by him and not many people have heard of him yet.
“He’s dynamic in the field and will play a role for us with both bat and ball in the middle or lower order.”
Chad Soper (NSW) ($1m)
Chad Soper gets into his delivery stride for Papua New Guinea against Scotland in 2021. Picture: ICC via Getty.
“Comes highly recommended by Jay Lenton so if you throw his name in YouTube he can absolutely smoke a ball and is extremely crafty with the ball as well,” he said.
“He’s one of our interstate players and has played some international cricket as well.”
Blaine Schloss ($50,000)
Maroochydore captain Blaine Schloss. Picture: Patrick Woods.
“He’s a local player so really keen to have Blaine in our squad,” he said.
“He’s a bit of a Mr Cricket but is a good middle to lower order batter and can bowl some useful spin.
“He’s an exceptional fielder and really just loves the game so his leadership will be key and we’re expecting big things from him.”
Christopher Knight ($450,000)
Toombul Bowler Chris Knight. Picture: Mike Batterham
“A very very good first grade bowler, he was one of the guys that we identified early as someone we wanted to have as a Marlin,” he said.
“With the ball he can bowl anywhere through the overs and will also be a good lower order hitter as well so he’ll be a very handy acquisition.”
Joshua Matthews ($1.5m)
Josh Matthews in action for the Sunshine Coast Scorchers.
“We wanted a guy that could bat at six and finish an innings but is also quite a crafty all rounder so we knew we wanted to save some money for Josh Matthews and were lucky enough to get him at the price we did,” he said.
“He’ll bat anywhere in the top five, he’s one of the leading premier grade batsmen and in the draft there weren‘t many of those which is why we wanted to save some money for him.
“On his day he’ll destroy any attack.”
Ryan Walker ($450,000)
Toombul bowler Ryan Walker bowls against Sandgate Redcliffe. Picture: John Gass
Walker is an exciting left arm unorthodox spin bowler from Brisbane.
“He was a former Australian U19s player and will be a key point of difference for us.
“We think he’s a genuine wicket taker and it’s what we want through the middle overs.”
Nathan Van Eekeren ($50,000)
Nathan Van Eekeren in his devastating spell for Norths.
“A right arm-quick from Bundaberg, we had him last year and someone tried to get him this time around but we matched it,” he said.
“He’s really good with both the new and older ball and is a great team man as well.”
Lachlan Ford ($300,000)
Townsville A-Grade cricket, Wests batsman Lachlan Ford. Picture: Evan Morgan
“Fordy, the mail on him is that he’s the number one fielder in Queensland Country,” he said.
“We’re really excited to have him from up north, he bowls left arm orthodox and will contribute all the way through the weekend.
“Is also a very good middle to lower order batter we’ve been told so we got some good mail on him and we knew a few other teams were after him so we were very happy to secure him as a Marlin.”