Multi-talented sportsman Brad Melville has quit cricket to pursue football.
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The 2017 Wangaratta premiership player has combined O and M with Premier Cricket in Melbourne, but he's set to walk away from the summer sport, at least in the short term, to try and crack a permanent VFL spot at Richmond.
"I'm not sure what they're going to do in terms of list sizes, but I've decided not to play cricket," he said.
"Potentially they'll (cricket officials) will try and have a late start to cricket, so they might cram in as many games as possible, so to try and do a proper pre-season and try and cram in a crowded cricket season, I think it would all have been a bit too much."
Almost three yeas ago after playing a role in Wangaratta's upset of Albury in the O and M, Melville was set to give up football to chase higher honours in cricket.
The classy batsman had just hit three half-centuries in the national under 19 championships and was eyeing a stint in England.
However that planned trip didn't eventuate and Meville has become a crucial player in the Pies' superb run of three straight grand finals.
His decision to turn his back on cricket will be a body blow to officials as yet another rising star chooses the winter code.
Melville has played for Melbourne in Victoria's top division.
"I barely trained last season due to footy, but I was able to hold my spot because we were going pretty well and I didn't need to do too much in games, which probably helped me hang in there longer than I was expecting," he said.
"Probably 12 months ago if you had asked me which I prefer it would have been cricket over footy, but since then it's gone the other way and I'm enjoying the footy a lot more and it's probably reflecting a bit more in my performances, whereas cricket is a bit of as chore when it comes to a Saturday and I'm not getting the results I've been after."
Melville boasts mercurial skills in football, particularly with his ability to kick clever goals that many others can't.
Like all Victorian-based football, outside the AFL, COVID-19 wiped out the O and M season, leaving Melville with some spare time.
"Ever since the under 12s in cricket, it's been cricket straight into the footy and I've never really had any time off," he said.
"I've probably had a couple of injuries where I've missed a couple of weeks, but that's probably the longest I've had off between sports so I'm trying to keep myself busy on the weekends."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Meville, who turns 22 next month, is uncertain if he will again have Wangaratta as a second club after joining Richmond last November.
"The size of the grounds up there and the better weather than Melbourne probably suits me more."