Altona North is hoping for improved results in the VTCA this season. 43186_04 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By LIAM TWOMEY
ALTONA North Cricket Club president Greg Frydas believes his side is set for an improved season in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association.
The club is coming off a disappointing 2011-’12 season when it only just avoided relegation.
However, with a number of talented young players continuing to improve, Frydas said the club would be aiming for finals.
“Every year you look to play finals. That is obviously where the goal is,” he said.
“We will look to reassess halfway through the year. We only just missed out on relegation last year so our expectations can’t be too high but certainly the goal will be to play finals.
“I think we are (in better shape than last year). We have a young group, which has been playing at the top level in Senior North. I think some of our young blokes are not far off coming into their peaks. I think we will be in a better position definitely.”
The club has been in training since August and added new specialist batting and bowling coaches to the mix in the off-season.
Altona North will also welcome two recruits coming over from England, who they hope will strengthen the batting line-up.
“They will help out the batting side of things,” Frydas said.
“We are pretty good on the bowling side. We’ve got a couple of young quicks in our side and a couple of veterans who are bowling well so the bowling will be pretty strong. Batting is probably the area where we needed to strengthen up from last year.
“That is what we have identified and why we targeted a couple of those guys from England.
“I think guys just need to apply themselves a bit more with the bat. We tended to have collapses last year so we need to apply ourselves a bit more at different points in the innings and re-establish good partnerships throughout.”
Frydas identified Dean Auciello, Andrew Auciello and Greg Doyle as young players he expected to perform well this season.
“We have avoided recruiting too much because we want to give the young guys an opportunity. We think they have had good coaching through our juniors and we think it is an exciting time for the club,” he said.
