STCC 1st TEAM SEASON PREVIEW - AN EXCITING SEASON AHEAD IN THE ECB.....

There is much excitement and anticipation as we head into the new season in a new league. A brilliant season in 2017 helped us gain promotion to the Lincolnshire ECB Premier League for the first time in our history. It was my first year back at the club and first year as captain. The target from the day I signed back was always to win the league and win it well. By win it well I mean going into each game giving our all and really making a statement of intent that set us apart. High intensity, energy, desire and commitment. Those I believe are a no brainer and things we can control. Performances then take care of themselves. This was all part of preparing for us coming into the ECB. It was a fantastic effort and credit to the lads to implement the things we spoke about and go through the season only losing one game and winning the league pretty comfortably and reach our goal.

Scunthorpe Town Cricket Club is a massive club and we are now going to be competing at the level we belong. Everyone at the club deserves this. But it’s now up to us as 1st team players to prove that we belong there. It’s inevitable there are going to be some tough games along the way but what we did last season in terms of showing high energy levels, intensity and staying together, enjoying each other’s performances will get us through. We have added a couple of new faces to add some depth to our squad of players. Ian Snowden, a former player and captain and someone I have known a long time. A high quality middle order batsman who knows what the clubs about and what we stand for. He will play a big part for us next year. The other signing is a real exciting talent, Bermudan u19s player Jabari Darrell. The fast bowling all-rounder has impressed so much since joining, in pre-season training he has been brilliant. Fitted in nicely and is improving each session. Just 16 years of age but a massive talent and he has a great opportunity to showcase his skills. We won’t be expecting too much of him but we know what potential he has and we will do everything to help develop that potential into high quality performances. He joins as part of a quartet of fast bowlers we have at our disposal with him, Danny Cliffe, Ben Brumby and Jamie Brumby. It’s a big season for Danny Cliffe. He was a class above last season with his wicket taking and match winning ability. If he can do the same again this year backed up well by the other 3 seamers we will be in a great position come the end of the season. Arbind Singh returns as our overseas player as well and will slot into that number 5 role, he will also take the gloves. We saw last season how talented he was and we hope he can put some bigger scores on the board this season, he has all the ability in the world its about using it to his strengths. I am backing him for sure to be a stand out player this season. Its vitally important for me as captain to set the right tone and standards, I want to win matches for this club and my team mates and ensure we hold our own. But we are a team and everyone in our team has that match winning quality. But we have to show it, we have to be consistent and we have to keep working hard. If we get our processes right as a team, train well, be committed every single week our performances will take of themselves.

The main thing for us is to stay up and ensure we have ECB League status for the 2019 season, everyone will be more than satisfied with that for sure…….personally however I have a different goal in mind……

Hope to see you supporting your home town at heslam park this season. All support means so much to us and it always gives us that extra push so please come down and cheer us on!!