By ADEM SARICAOGLU
DARREL Brown’s final summer in charge of Hoppers Crossing did not exactly go to plan.
Brown was eyeing off a finals berth in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association’s Senior Division, but the young Cats fell agonisingly short by season’s end, finishing seventh and only less than five points away from fourth-placed and eventual premier, Yarraville Club.
A couple of close calls and perhaps one or two dodgy decisions seemed to go against Hoppers Crossing’s plight, but Brown is the first to admit his Cats needed better contributions with the bat this summer.
“Obviously, it could have gone a lot better since a lot of things didn’t go our way,” Brown said.
“We needed a few more runs, and in some instances there was a lot of misfortune in terms of umpiring decisions not going our way.
“But the one thing I must say we improved on was our fielding. Over the last two years before this year, almost every game we had about three or four catches go down and probably out of the whole season we only dropped about three catches, and they were difficult ones as well.
“So that was a big improvement, but the bowling was pretty good as well.”
Prior to the start of the season all the way back in October, Brown put the acid on his team to push for the top four.
Though the Cats ultimately fell short, Brown told Star it was an enjoyable summer and an important one for the development of some of the club’s young stars – including Ryan Latham and Cam Nicol.
“The guys really came out and worked hard,” he said.
“It was just a year of bad luck, but the thing about it is the guys were really upbeat, and I must say this was probably one of the best years I’ve played cricket.
“It was just pure fun. When we lost, we just took it on the chin and moved on.”
Brown, along with fellow senior players Asif Jan and Tawalampolage Darshanapriya, are not coming back to Hogans Road next summer.
Brown said he and the club’s new hierarchy “did not see eye to eye” on key on-field matters.
