By LIAM TWOMEY
IT HAS been an off-season of change for Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association side Sunshine.
After a disappointing 2012/13 season, in which the Crows won just two games, Sunshine has replaced former coach Rex Bennett with the newly appointed Mark Brown.
On field, Kane Twentyman has also taken over as captain from Troy Stone.
“I have had some experience in coaching and captaining sides before,” Twentyman said.
“I have had a bit of experience with the Sunshine Cricket Club the last four or five years. It is quite daunting. I am going to be leaning very heavily on the likes of Troy Stone to help me along.
“Troy is a great game day captain, he is very smart and without a shadow of a doubt I’ll be asking him, what do you think of this and what do you reckon?
“It will be very much a collaborative effort.”
Sunshine will begin its new campaign with an away game against Bayswater.
The club’s first home game of the year will be in round two against Box Hill.
Hoping to improve on last year’s two wins, Twentyman said the club’s pre-season had been an encouraging one.
“The vibe is good, the numbers have been really good and we have had well over 50 come through our training over the pre-season,” he said.
“There are still a few guys who have been committed to football and playing finals and what not.
“In regards to numbers things are looking good. We will be able to create some depth in the seconds, thirds and fourths which is great. The club as a whole is looking good.”
While the majority of the Sunshine list will be similar to last season, the Crows will welcome four new recruits coming out from England.
The club is also hoping at least one of them can slot into the first XI.
Building on the positive off-season, Twentyman is optimistic the Crows can be a finals contender this season.
“Everyone wants to play finals but I have also got to be realistic having finished in that bottom two the last three of four years,” he said.
“We will be looking to shake that tag as Sunshine being the easy beats.
“We want to bring a competitive effort every week and if that comes, I’m sure it will result in wins.
“If we can sort of be mid table to the top end of that bottom tier, I’d be looking between 10th and sixth. That would mean four or five wins. It is not all about the wins but … if we can be around the mark come January or February, you just never know.”
