Q&A With DG Speirs As the club has recently lost a few key members, i managed to catch up with the Chairman of Selectors Daniel Speirs to get his perspective on things leading up to the Season 11 season. DA: Hi Daniel, thank you for your time, we have recently seen a key figure at our club in Eddie leave for a presidential role at the Cyclones, what were your initial thoughts and were you worried he would potentially take the likes of Incey and Cevno along with him? DS: I was quite shocked and a bit frustrated to begin with, not at Eddie, but with how the Cyclones and CricSim administration allowed the situation to unfold. I'm all for trying to add some stability to the competition by not allowing teams to just fold, however I feel that the decision to enforce this rule has come without considering the alternative, that perhaps the viability of some clubs needed to be seriously examined before their long-term futures were guaranteed. Perhaps a club like the Lions being resurrected may have provided a more stable option than the Cyclones. As far as losing more players to the Cyclones, I have to admit it was quite a concern. Eddie was, and still is, quite well-respected and well-liked at the club. Given that we still had quite a few key players unsigned at the time, it obviously wasn't ideal for our head of recruitment to be moved into a position outside where he could potentially gut our side. It's something that will undoubtedly be an ongoing concern as well, given the potential for Eddie to freely offer board positions or first-class cricket at the Cyclones DA: Seeing as Eddie was our number one keeper and there were signs that he would be a key figure in our S11 team, how did him leaving effect Recruitment for the remainder of the off season, and were you genuinely worried at any stage that we would have to field a side without a keeper? DG: It obviously left quite a hole in terms of recruitment, although we had already made the majority of our signings from outside the club. The main issue was finding out what knowledge the rest of us were lacking on who had been approached, and who had shown interest in joining our club. Retaining players became somewhat of a battle for a period there as well, however most showed their true colours in the end. On a playing front, I was never particularly worried that we would have to go without a keeper, however it might have been an avenue we would've gone down if we felt we couldn't find replacements of quality both on and off the park. As it stands now though, the battle between Con and Scoble could be one of the more interesting debates around the selection table. Con is a stalwart of the club, but it remains to be seen whether he can re-capture his past form. Scoble on the other hand is a promising youngster, yet in all likelihood it is probably a bit early in his career to throw him in the deep end of Bannerman Shield cricket. Of equal importance was finding a way to replace Morris at number three in the order, fortunately the loyalty shown by the likes of Narang and Thornton in particular made that a pretty simple decision in the end. DA: As the season gets closer day by day, what are your thoughts on the season. Do you feel as if the current squad is better than what we had leading up to Season 10. The inclusion of Choco should definitely boost our bowling stocks, do you think he is a key to our success this season? Do you feel like we are genuine contenders? DG: I'm not quite sure what to expect from the new season. Last time out our strengths and weaknesses were pretty obvious, making our home ground advantage arguably the biggest in the competition. Conversely though, we did struggle a bit away from home without the same balance that we have now. The main thing leaving me a bit unsure about this season is that we have quite a few people who will probably need to step up their game a little bit. Choco spent last season in ALC, so he can hardly be expected to carry the attack, so we may need Laing and Hutchinson to improve on the efforts of last season. Jacobs batting at number seven may need to up his game as well, given the unknown abilities of Con following him in, along with spinning support only from myself and Narang. DA: You have commented on our bowling stocks, what about our batting stocks, can you see any vast improvements from any batsmen in particular, and who do you think needs to have a solid season for the Stickies to be a real shot come Season 11? DG: Well I'd expect to see a better effort from myself this season. I'd really love to get at least 45 plus with the bat, which should be manageable with a few more starts. Thornton reverting to number three should be interesting, and his form is probably something we should be monitoring given the decline of various experienced players throughout the Bannerman Shield. The main two who have plenty of room for improvement are Narang and Pilgrim though, Narang will need to establish himself at the top of the order and prove that he belongs in the Bannerman Shield, and I fully expect him to do so, probably earning an Provincial cap in the process. For Pilgrim, last season was filled with inconsistency, so a more steady hand at number six should come with a permanent role in the top grade, as opposed to competing to stay in the side for games away from home. There you have it, now all that is left to do is wait until the beginning of Season 11.
No one ever really gives us a shot, regardless of what season it is yet we perform better than expected.
It'll be interesting to see how you go this season. You lot usually pick a really good pitch which helps, but with no real outstanding bowling duo it'll be harder.
Of the same bowling type I meant - probably should've specified that Like, you had Dorn and yourself last season - so you could use a spin friendly pitch to your advantage, but there's no real obvious pitch setting for S11.
Im not jelly, im dirty that you begged me to stay with you (which I said I would) and then you just upped and left. Hidden agenda the whole time. GLORY SEEKER
