Prince and Jeremy to lead
Posted by Neville Smeda on October 6, 2008
The Crusaders returned home after a very eye-opener tour of England. They won two out of their five matches, more than anything gaining great experience against some strong opposition. One of the highlights of the short tour was seeing Graeme Jeremy open the batting and destroy the bowling attack from up front. Stuart Capp continues to impress with his middle-order form and will press for a regular place in the one-day lineup.
In addition to the seasoned players contributing, Academy new-comer William Downing also showed that he is capable of holding up his own against various bowling attacks.
With just a few days to go until the season opener in a Cup match against Mmabatho Cricket Club, focus is on consistency amongst the bowlers as well as finalizing combinations. While the senior players will play in this match, the combinations may be switched around due to some good results in England.
Michael Prince on the possible changes, “Graeme Jeremy and Geoff Kenny seem to be our best attacking opening partnership right now and they’ll probably open with me dropping down to three. Stability in the middle-order is needed and that’s where Marc Weeks comes in. Still up in the air of course, but we’re looking in this direction.”
In other announcements this week, Michael Prince was named as captain for the season, selecting 18-year old Graeme Jeremy to be his deputy.
“Graeme showed some good leadership on tour in his young age and I see him as the one to take over the reigns when the time is right”, said Prince.
Glenn Rorke will be in charge of the 2nd XI, although he may not always be the matchday captain, allowing for others to gain some experience.
While the squad was away in England, the administrators of T&N Crusaders released spinner Graham Harrison and batsman Dan Mangweni on free transfers, allowing for them to pursue the opportunity of playing regular cricket. Another reason behind the decision was the size of the squad was becoming too big to accomodate everyone and give everyone match time. Manager Neville Smeda said that “neither Mangweni nor Harrison are in their future plans of the club and it would be unfair to retain them, pay them, and not have them play. We will more than likely release two more before mid-season, so this is an incentive for all players to perform during every opportunity given to them.”
The upgrades to the T&N Smeda Stadium are complete and the Cup match on the weekend will see the first use of the new facilities. Improved and additional seating should see a larger crowd arrive to witness the newly-named team in Cup action.
