Rookie to start?
Posted by Neville Smeda on October 7, 2008
The latest news from T&N Crusaders Cricket Club may come as a suprise to all. During one of the training sessions this afternoon, the squad was divided into two teams and played against each other in a brief Twenty20 practice match. While not confirmed, the Prince XI looked to be the first team taking on their lesser counterparts in the Rorke XI. Included in the Prince XI at number 5 was matric, William Downing, who just joined the Academy 2 weeks ago. He was surrounded by a very strong outfit, including both Allan Blott and Eddie Ayres.
The official opening season press conference will not be held until Friday, wherein it will be established whether Downing will play a role in the season’s first-class opener next week. Until then, one can only speculate as to what the composition of the team will be.
Academy coach, Rudi Steyn, indicated today that William Downing was invited to train with the senior squad this week, and in particular work with batsman John Simpson. Looking at the winning team that won the league last season, there doesn’t look to be much room for a new batsman. The opening role might be the only place, although Downing is considered more of a middle-order batsman with his attacking temperament.
In his single tour match in England recently, Downing made a mature 37. If Downing makes his debut next week, he will follow in the footsteps of fellow matric, Graeme Jeremy. With a greater structure in place this season, it was expected that the Academy players would play mostly in friendlies for the 2nd XI, however all squad members knew that good performances will be recognized.
Michael Prince did not give much away in a brief statement, “The team for Sunday’s Cup match is pretty much a done deal. As for the first-class arrangement, we’re looking at various options. We are in a very competitive league this season and are definitely one of the weaker teams so we need to make sure that we are covered in all departments, including youth and experience. While it would be unfair to divulge complete details on our options, I can say that there could very well be some changes in the first team. We’re with the big boys now and everyone who wants to play needs to step up to the mark. Last season we thrashed almost every team we played against, therefore there was no competition and the team remained consistent. It will be different this season.”
Regarding the one-day team, Prince said, “We relegated to a lower league and looking around we appear to be one of the better teams. We have the talent on paper, now just a matter of transferring the potential into victories. We’re still trying to figure out our limited-overs strategy, but the lower league will give us that opportunity.”
The probable team for the Cup match is: Prince(c), Kenny, Jeremy, Weeks, Stearman, Simpson, Gossland(wk), Blott, Kotzo, Fox, Ayres.
