Trevor Jackson
IT is a case of more of the same for the Mil Lel Cricket Club this season, with minimal changes to its A Grade line-up.
Mil Lel made finals last season in the Hoggies Wines Barber Shield and with little change to the roster, hope to again give the post-season a shake up.
According to club president Craig Little, that experience should hopefully equate to another good season.
“It was the first time we had made finals for quite a few years,” he said.
“The A Grade side shouldn’t be too much different – we have picked up Jarrod Sanders from Yahl who has come over to try his hand at A Grade.
“Hopefully with that year of experience and a bit of a taste for it, we might go a bit better this year.”
Little said one of the keys to the success of the club last year was quite simply team work.
“I think as a team they played pretty well together,” he said.
“Everybody contributed.
“Jack Miller had a reasonable year, but there were no real standouts.
“As a team they played some fairly good cricket and if you keep doing that, the results will come.”
Miller will captain the side again this season, to provide further stability to the roster.
As a whole, the club is again looking strong, with teams in every grade, from the Open women’s competition, the Under 12, Under 14 and Under 17 Juniors, through to C Grade, B Grade and A Grade.
As a result, Little said the feel around the club at the moment was good.
“The last couple of years we have probably been the only side that has played a team in every grade,” he said.
“We are pretty happy with the numbers.
“Our Under 14s played in the finals last year.
“North doesn’t have a side this season so we picked up a couple of those players.
“That makes our Under 14s look really strong.
“In the last couple of years our C Grade has played in the grand final games.
“We are looking to play those younger fellows from 17s and 14s to give them a bit of a taste of senior cricket in C Grade.
“Overall we are pretty happy with how everything going.”
One of the only issues the club faces at the moment is the state of the Frew Park wicket.
But every other club would face a similar scenario with the recent wet weather not allowing the turf to come up to a good standard.
The women are expected to play on the wicket on Sunday, but Little said he could not see that happening.
The A Grade men play at Malseed Park in the opening round this weekend, with their first home game pencilled in for October 29, which Little hopes will give it enough to time to settle in.
Despite that setback, he said everything else looked positive for a good season overall.
“As with most teams, the training has been a bit slow due to the weather,” Little said.
“But as a club, we are confident.
“Hopefully the weather clears up and we can play a bit of cricket.”
