Footscray’s Edgewater captain Travis Gloury warms up before the game. 54532 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
FOOTSCRAY Edgewater’s first XI captain Travis Gloury says his side can continue its upward trajectory from last year, despite losing talented batsman Sean Dean and not picking up many name players.
The most high-profile playing recruit is club stalwart Andrew McCammond, who retired from Premier cricket in 2009 but has returned to the state’s top competition. The left-arm quick has taken 218 wickets for the Bulldogs in 137 games.
The other two main recruits are up-and-coming youngsters Hamish Winter-Irving and Jakson Knight. Winter-Irving, a pace bowler, is a member of the Victorian under-19 state side and has come to the club from Central Park-St Brendan’s Cricket Club in the Shepparton League, while top order batsman Knight represented Victoria’s under-17 team last year and comes from Greenvale Cricket Club.
Gloury said this will be another season built on developing young players, but victory will never be far from his mind.
“Last year was a year we spent trying to develop a relatively young and inexperienced group. In the process we were probably able to win a few more than we expected and probably surprised ourselves a little bit too,” he said.
“However, if we’re not looking to build on what we were able to accomplish last year then we’re wasting our time.
“We know we’ve got the capabilities, it’s just a question of getting everybody on the park and sticking to what we know that works.”
Gloury said wicket-keeper batsman Dylan Kight and batsman Travis Dean, both Victorian under-19 representatives, would bear plenty of responsibility on their young shoulders.
“At the start of last year, Dylan Kight and Travis Dean were our two young guns. I thought both of them stood up. They matured more quickly than expected. We’d be hoping for them to mature again and hopefully keep delivering for us,” Gloury said.
While Footscray’s on-field recruits are relatively unknown, their off-field recruits have had illustrious careers. Former Bushranger Jason Arnberger has been working with the players as batting coach. There was speculation that he was going to play, but he has decided to concentrate on coaching.
Former WA Sheffield Shield captain Ian Brayshaw will help Merv Hughes out as a bowling coach, while former assistant coach Bruce Waldron and club legend Rainer Reber have also joined the coaching panel.
Brad Robertson, Footscray’s leading wicket-taker last year with an average of 14.33, returned from England last week after a stint with Airedale and Wharfedale Senior Cricket League.
Dean Russ, who broke the Airedale and Wharfedale league record for most runs in the season, will return to Australia in time to play in either round two or three, while Anthony Barton, who also spent an English summer in the same league, should be available for round one on Saturday.
Footscray Edgewater will take on Richmond in the opening round of the Premier season this Saturday. A separate Twenty20 competition will be held, with the first game having been played on Sunday. The Twenty20 final will take place on 4 January, the one day final on 5 January, and the two-day final will begin on 30 March.
