Second XI captain Chris Hope and opening batsmen Michael Alexander are busy preparing for the upcoming cricket season. 87109_02 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By ADEM SARICAOGLU
MELTON Lions coach Duncan Harrison is keen to ensure his club doesn’t slip in the upcoming Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association season.
Premiers in three of the past four seasons, the Lions are taking a slightly different approach in their preparation for this summer’s premiership defence.
“We’re going on a camp to Dunkeld at the base of the Grampians in a fortnight, we haven’t done that before,” Harrison said.
“That’s a little bit of a change in tactics for us. We’re going to play two or three practice matches over the weekend and do some team building stuff.”
Harrison said the main idea behind the camp is to “get away as a group” and “isolate the guys a little bit”.
“It’s probably so you get to know the newer guys and get to know the guys across the grades a bit better.
“It’s good exercise.”
Melton’s first XI line-up is expected to have a somewhat different look about it with three regulars not returning this summer.
“Nathan Geisler is having a season off, he’s going to be doing a little bit of batting coaching for us but he’s not playing. He’s a pretty fair player obviously so it’s a bit of a loss there,” Harrison told Star.
“Adam Johnstone is returning to Woodend, he kept for us last year, and James Wheelahan had an operation on his ankle so he won’t play this season.”
New Zealander Jeremy Liddy has been announced as the club’s major new recruit, but Harrison expects his younger charges from lower grades to help fill the void left by the outgoing players.
“We’ll probably look for those guys to get a bit of an opportunity, so I suppose that will be exciting for the club,” Harrison said.
Star performers Shane Harwood, Mick Allen, Nathan Allen, David Kirk and Brad Jones have all recommitted to the Lions this summer.
“We’ll still have the nucleus of a really good side but I’m hoping a few of the young kids push through and do well,” Harrison said.
As usual the club will again be setting high standards for itself once more this summer, but its main aim at this stage is to simply make the finals.
“You can’t guarantee that you’ll get a premiership because they’re pretty hard to win, but we’ll be pretty competitive and I suppose everyone’s chasing us,” Harrison said.
“So the challenge is on again.”
