Second team captain, Carl Barton, has a simple aim for 2019, “To win the league”.
He expanded on his ambitious aims, “I like to enter any competition with the ultimate aim of winning it. Being a big club, we have a large pool of players to choose from so the team can vary widely from week to week. However, at full strength we have some of the best cricketers in the division and we’re capable of competing with all sides.
“I’d like to see some of our younger players continue to take on more responsibility within the 2s. Tom Grey became a massive player for us in all departments last season and Nidhish Pujari, Matt Restall and Tom Ritch (winner of the Ian Shiels Shield as best young player 2018) are pushing themselves into contention having each turned out for us in 2018 and continually improved.
“Last year we tied for the Fairplay trophy and I’d like to retain that as we always want to go about our cricket in the right way whether we are winning or losing.”
Carl knows how competitive Division 3 is as he explained: “With the two-up, two-down system, at least 4 of the10 sides are new to the league each year so it’s tricky to gauge strength until we’re a few games in. Selkirk have been something of a banana skin for us in recent seasons as we have struggled to adapt to their slow pitch which they seem to play fluently on. Sides like Leith FAB are always an interesting one as their style of cricket is often boom or bust so the game can swing very quickly. Hopefully we can establish ourselves as one of the danger sides by stringing together a good run early on.
The local “derby” against Marchmont CC is eagerly awaited. “The boys at Marchmont always play the game in the right way and I’m pleased they stayed up last season as at one point it looked like either us or them were due for the drop. We finished with honours even last year as we each won away from home but the reverse fixture at Cavalry Park was an incredible match in which we just about came out on the winning side owing to a last wicket stand of 9 (huge in the context of the game) in a low-scoring thriller. We got over the line that day but those are the moments we play for.”
Carl is excited for the future of the club : “We could be entering a transformational period for sport at Roseburn – behind the sedate appearance of Saturday cricket there are a lot of people hectically working behind the scenes to plan what the future of sport looks like at Roseburn. In the shorter-term, we are in a healthy position with a strong player base and I’m pleased we have the luxury of continuity this season with all Saturday skippers staying on. I don’t see any reason why we can’t continue to punch above our weight and enjoy another successful season across the club.”
This is part of a preview of Murrayfield Dafs Season from the point of view of all the captains. Read more here.
