Preview – Tranmere v T&N Crusaders

This week the Crusaders travel to Tranmere Cricket Ground in the Eastern Cape to take on Tranmere in their 3rd first-class fixture of the season.  After two thumping first-class defeats against the Crusaders, they will be looking to put points on the table and be competitive again. 

The Crusaders also come off a streak of 7 losses in a row, something which has caused some unrest in the Members’ corner.  Poor selections and unwise tactics has been the rallying cry of the Members as to the reason for the poor run of form.  For one, young William Downing’s selection has been criticized, never having really stepped up to the plate yet.  Downing has looked the best during practice sessions, but has been unable to transfer that form into the middle. 

With pressure from the Members, management has been forced to make some changes to this week’s team, after the first two matches had no team changes.  Steve Lothrop comes in for William Downing in the middle-order.  Lothrop’s inclusion is a surprise choice because Pete Moller has definitely shown more promise.  In an adjustment to the middle-order, veteran Marc McVeigh slots down to 6th in the batting order and John Simpson moves into the number 4 slot as he has shown solid form this season.

In the bowling department, Carlos Hibbert comes in for Tim Fox, to make his first-class debut.

Of the team, captain O’Shea said, “Two heavy losses is hard to swallow, so we had to make some changes.  This season we were hoping to be consistent in our selections so as to establish that winning formula after a fairly successful season last season, but we need to be realistic.  Carlos coming into the team has been something we had been speaking about for a few weeks, as he has shown a lot of promise in the one-day setup”.

The team is: Prince, O’Shea(c), Jeremy, Simpson, Lothrop, McVeigh, Ahad(wk), Hayward, Blott, Hibbert, Ayres.  12th: Branson.