Premier Cricket, St Kilda’s Adam Crosthwaite will miss the final through suspension

Former first-class player Crosthwaite, 38, appeared before the Cricket Victoria Tribunal last night and was found guilty of discrediting the game.

Premier Cricket Competitions manager Darren Anderson said the charges relate to alleged comments about pitch conditions in last Saturday’s finals match between Footscray and St Kilda at the Mervyn Hughes Oval.

Anderson said Premier Cricket officials investigated after receiving a complaint from Footscray.

He said officials spoke to the umpires and a referee coach and decided to send Crosthwaite before the tribunal.

Anderson said Crosthwaite indicated before the tribunal that his comments had been taken out of context.

He said Crosthwaite was “very disappointed” with the penalty.

St Kilda won the match against Footscray, declaring at 4-311 and sacking the Bulldogs for 189.

The win helped the Saints capture back-to-back club championships.

The two-game ban means St Kilda’s Crosthwaite will face Northcote in the knockout final at Junction Oval this Saturday and Sunday.

Anderson said Crosthwaite has an opportunity to appeal the decision.

Teams on the Premier Cricket website lists State Squad player Jon Merlo as the Saints skipper for the weekend’s game.

Crosthwaite played state cricket as a wicketkeeper-batter for Victoria and South Australia and is one of the most successful players in Australian club cricket.

After cracking 15 centuries for Manly-Warringah and five for UTS North Sydney (one of them in T20 format), he returned to Victoria in 2019-20 to become captain of St Kilda.

He has since scored runs for the Saints in 1921, at three tons.

Crosthwaite is also considered one of Victorian cricket’s brightest coaching prospects, having held assistant roles with the Melbourne Renegades BBL and WBBL teams, the Victorian women’s team and the men’s second XI.

Last year he also ventured into minor league cricket in the USA as the head coach of the Seattle Thunderbolts.

Crosthwaite declined to comment this morning.

Before joining CODE, Paul Amy was a sports reporter and editor for Leader Newspapers. He was also a longtime Inside Football contributor and the author of Fabulous Fred, the Strife and Times of Fred Cook.