The West Gambier Roos jumped from non-finalists to semi-final challengers last summer and Richard Crute hopes his men can leap into the big one.

The dream may had been cut short by eventual premier North Sportsman’s but it was a sign things are building nicely at Malseed Park.

West was almost the most prolific team with the bat off the back of the gutsy knocks from Jake Blackwell and Connor Prior.

Blackwell enjoyed the perfect return from a shoulder reconstruction smashing a competition high-water mark of 406 runs with the classy average of 40.60.

Meanwhile Connor Prior made the all-important number three position his own spending almost 1000 minutes at the crease across 10 games.

The Roos also enjoyed plenty of success in the field with Niall Easterbrook, Sam Willis, Justin de Jong, Lachlan Brown and Richard Crute all collecting regular wickets with a sub-20 average.

The batting stocks will be bolstered by Don Dasanayake, a Sri Lankan cricketer who has made an impression from the moment he first arrived at training.

West captain Crute will be one of the side’s big names to watch and is keeping things simple for the summer ahead as the club eyes its third Grand Final in 10 seasons.

“From the outset you are just looking at finals and making sure you get things going to take the whole thing away with just two wins,” Crute said.

“We want to bat out all the allotted overs we can which will give us a good chance.

“You always want early wins, so hopefully we can get off to a good start.”

The Roos open their account with a one-day fixture against Mil Lel and will be keen to avenge an agonising defeat from last year.