CLYST St George captain Dan Kendall is determinedly looking forward not back as the villagers prepare for life back in the B Division.
Clyst’s stay in the A Division of the Tolchards DCL proved a brief one as they were relegated straight back from whence they came.
The Singh brothers – Inder and Par – have departed to A Division side Abbotskeswell, who narrowly avoided the same fate as Clyst last time round.
The Singhs showed-up well in Clyst’s end-of-season bowling statistics – Par claimed 30 wickets at less than 19 apiece, Inder 18 at a little under 23 runs each – and those are the sort of stats any side would miss.
If Kendall is worried about losing the Singh’s, he is doing well keeping it to himself.
“We go into the season fresh and with renewed hope that we can have a better year than last,” said Kendall.
“Despite losing Inder and Par Singh, we still have plenty of proven ability in the side.
“We have welcomed in a couple of new faces who have moved to the area, batter Charlie Dunn and veteran wicket keeper, Andrew Taylor.
“Our overseas is South African batting all-rounder, Morgan Potgieter who arrived last week and has settled in quickly - we're excited to see him in action.
“Our 2nd XI will be bringing through our talented under-14 and under-15 players this season, so our long-term future looks bright.”
Predicting promotion is a dangerous pastime and Kendall is rightly wary of managing expectations on that front.
“Our ambition is to be competing near the top end of the table, given many of the players in the side have done it before,” he said.
“We already know player availability and squad depth throughout the season will be something we will have to manage, so we will do our best.”
Clyst are at home to Barton in the opening round of fixtures.
BARTON’s new skipper Stephen Lewis has his sights set on getting out of the B Division sooner rather than later.
Barton were good enough to beat top two Plymstock and Bideford once each last season, which hinted they could live with the best.
Yet they were only eight points clear of the relegation places in the final table, which suggests consistency was not a strong point. An unhappy knack of losing close games on the chase against Bideford and Chudleigh did not help.
Lewis, who has taken over the captaincy from long-serving Adam Parker, has realistic targets for the season ahead, which commences away to Clyst St George this Saturday.
“With the squad we have I don’t see why we cannot aim for the top half of the table, maybe push to get back in the A Division,” said Lewis.
Lewis signed former Torquay team-mate Tom Drake during pre-season with a serious tilt at promotion mind.
Drake said at the time: “Most of my playing years have been at Barton and with my best mate as captain I wanted to support him and the club.”
Sadly for Barton and Drake he suffered a serious knee injury playing rugby for the Tics after signing and is unlikely to feature this season.”
Lewis had hoped to lure other old boys back to Cricketfield Road, but was unsuccessful.
Overseas input this season will come from Tarasai Musakanda, who played international cricket for Zimbabwe between 2016-2022.
Musakanda, a batter and very occasional seamer at First Class level, was Budleigh Salterton’s overseas player in 2019. He scored more than 600 league runs and took 27 wickets.
Last summer Musakanda was engaged by Ashmanhaugh & Barton Wanderers in the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division. He made eight appearances and scored 300 runs in eight games.
Lewis has taken over from long-serving Adam Parker, who captained Barton 1st XI for 15 seasons.
Cricket is in the Lewis family DNA as dad Robbie and grandad John both had long careers locally, notably with the old St Marychurch team.
BOVEY Tracey 2nd XI skipper Dan Green expects his team’s fortunes to pick-up this season thanks to some new arrivals at the club.
Bovey had a mundane season in the Tolchards DCL last season, which ended with them finishing sixth in the table of 10.
Consistency of selection was an issue – numerous calls were made for first team duties – and losing overseas player Johnah Serong halfway through, as a permanent replacement for Alex Bevilaqua in the first team, did not help!
Bovey also had more matches rained-off than anyone else in the division, which limited their chances of gaining points. That was one of the reason the team was unable to win two games in a row all season.
Green sees first-team strengthening as an asset for the club due to the trickle-down effect.
“The first team have picked-up a couple of extra players, which is always good for the second team,” said Green.
“Braydon Pink, our overseas, has comes with great stats in Western Australia grade cricket and is also a qualified coach.
“Having had the chance to see Braydon play a couple times in pre-season games, he looks like a great cricketer. He will be a big part to our season along. And along with the youth we produce it should be a good season for us.”
A good season for Green is finishing near the top than the bottom, although winning the B Division does not mean promotion as 2nd XIs cannot go any higher in the league.
“Our is a competitive division – and obviously we want to win it – but to be in the top four would be a great result for a second team in a first team division,” said Green.
