Carlton and Melbourne to meet in Kookaburra Men’s Premier First XI Grand Final

It’s been 54 years since the two sides met in the decider, with the most recent encounter taking place in the 1968/69 season. The only other occasion they have played in the grand final was 1947/48, with Carlton winning in both instances.

The Blues have been a dominant force in Premier Cricket recent years, having won two grand finals in the last four seasons. They will be looking to go back-to-back having won most recently last year to make it the 11th premiership in the club’s history.

For Melbourne, a win this weekend would make it their 22nd premiership win and the first since they were awarded the title in the 2019/20 season, which ended prematurely due to the pandemic.

Carlton finished on top of the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season and have made their way to the grand final as the higher placed side in drawn matches in both the quarter final against Richmond and preliminary final against St Kilda. Melbourne on the other hand have had two wins during this finals series, defeating Footscray in the quarter final and Ringwood in the preliminary final.

In their most recent match, Carlton 303 (H Smyth 123, N Ross 52, M Harvey 34, K Williamson 4/58) defeated Melbourne 270 (C Lill 105, S Harper 54, B Thomson 36, C Stevenson 4/80, E O’Sullivan 3/55) in Round 14 at the Albert Ground.

Current Victorian squad members potentially taking to the field this weekend include Mackenzie Harvey and Xavier Crone for Carlton, whilst Melbourne could see Victorian players Sam Harper and Fergus O’Neill return following the Sheffield Shield final in Western Australia last weekend. Fellow state representative Will Pucovski is also available for selection, however the Dees will be without young gun Campbell Kellaway who is currently representing Australia A in New Zealand.

The match will take place at Windy Hill as the CitiPower Centre and Albert Ground are both unavailable due to the Australian F1 Grand Prix being staged this weekend.

Play starts at 10:30am on Friday and Saturday (9:30am on Sunday as Daylight Savings ends) and will be broadcast live on Kayo, the Victorian Premier Cricket Facebook Page and Victorian Premier Cricket Match Centre.

Victorian Premier Cricket Men’s First XI Grand Final 
Carlton CC v Melbourne CC
Windy Hill, Essendon
Friday 31 March – Sunday April 2
10:30am
Broadcast live on Kayo VPC Facebook Page and VPC Match Centre.