Hartley will open the batting and take the wicket-keeping gloves for the Bulldogs against Huntly-North Epsom - the club he started his cricket career with and the club his family has a long association with.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the Hartley name was synonymous with North Bendigo Cricket Club.

Siblings Steve and Jamie Hartley were two of the premier batsmen in the BDCA, with Steve a key member of the club's last premiership in 1991.

In 2011 the Hartley name was again making cricket headlines - this time for Huntly-North Epsom after North Bendigo moved to Huntly in 2001.

Ryan Hartley, son of Jamie, was selected to make his BDCA first XI debut for Huntly-North Epsom at the age of just 12.

Playing against Sandhurst at Weeroona Oval, Ryan made nine not out and faced 81 balls.

"I still remember the game pretty vividly. I remember batting with (captain) Linc (McRae) for an hour or so and really enjoying it,'' Hartley said this week.

"It was a good experience."

Less than 12 months later Hartley made the move to Melbourne Grammar where he was a border.

He represented Victoria at under-age level from under-12s through to under-19s and was carving out a good Premier Cricket career with Prahran until he had a change of heart earlier this summer.

University studies in Bendigo, his footy career with Golden Square in the BFNL and the constant travel up and down the Calder Highway were the major factors behind his decision to quit Premier Cricket.

"I was at uni, I was enjoying footy, I was working, I wasn't going as well as I would have liked (with Prahran) and the travel became too much,'' Hartley said.

"I'd had enough and I always wanted to come back and play cricket in Bendigo.

"One of the toughest things I've ever done was making the phone call to the Prahran coach (former Australian Test player Julien Wiener) to tell him I wasn't playing anymore."

Golden Square and Huntly-North Epsom were his two choices.

"I did think about it (returning to Huntly-Nerth Epsom) because I have fond memories of Huntly as a junior,'' Hartley said.

"The club has changed a fair bit in the past seven or eight years and there are a lot of new faces at the club.

"It's a different place now to what it was back then."

Huntly-North Epsom's loss has been Golden Square's gain.

"Golden Square asked me to play a couple of Twenty20 games (as a marquee player) and I met some people through that and it seemed like a good place to play cricket,'' Hartley said.

"I've loved playing here. It's an exciting place at the moment with all three teams in grand finals this weekend."

Hartley's glovework behind the stumps has been outstanding and he has formed a strong combination at the top of the batting order with Tim Wood.

After starting his career with Square in the middle-order, Hartley has opened the batting with Wood in the past five two-day matches.

He's made two half-centuries, including a fine 63 in the semi-final win over Strathdale-Maristians.

Hartley was also a key member of the BDCA's Melbourne Country Week premiership team.

His match-winning 101 not out off 87 balls on day two was one of the highlights of the week.

"I really enjoyed Country Week, it was better than I thought it was going to be,'' Hartley admitted.

"It was good to play cricket with some of Bendigo's best players who I'd only previously read things about."

Hartley would love nothing more than to add a BDCA premiership medal to his big summer this weekend.

It would also give him bragging rights at the family dinner table.

"I do cop a bit of stick from my uncle (Steve) about him playing in a premeirship (with North Bendigo),'' Hartley said.

"That does sit with me a little bit, but things have moved on from then and I'm really looking forward to playing in a grand final with Golden Square."

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.