Beverley Town Cricket Club are looking forward to the new season that will see all four of their sides now play in the York Senior League and York Conference after the winter shake-up of the league systems.
Changes at the club in the winter saw Alan Acklam step down as captain after seven years with Jonathan Fisher being appointed to take on the role. Fisher was full of praise for Acklam after taking over but is keen to make his mark on the club.
He said;
“All I can say is that I am very lucky to take over from him – due to his relentless commitment to the club, he has laid a fantastic set of building blocks from where I hope to develop and build further.”
Fisher and his side failed to make any impression in their last friendly ahead of the new season as they were well beaten by Driffield at the Norwood Recreation Ground, but they will have a chance to redeem themselves with the visit of Sewerby this weekend.
Tim Smith continues to lead the second team that will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing season last year that saw them get relegated into Division Two. Smith will get a good look at his side in a competitive situation for the first time at the weekend as they travel to Driffield for their opening match.
Sam Welburn has been confirmed as the new skipper of the third team, who get under way at Norwood against Cottingham on 3rd May. Welburn is relishing the new season and his role as skipper and he said;
“It’s an honour to be asked to be captain. The thirds had a good season last year, and hopefully we can continue to build on that over the coming months.”
Welburn’s task, however, has been made all the more difficult after Paul Fleming confirmed his retirement from cricket. Commenting on the big man’s exit from the game, Welburn said;
“Flem was a great asset to have in any team, hopefully we’ll still see plenty of him down at Norwood. There’s plenty of young talent coming through from the youth teams, and I’m sure they can help fill the massive gap that Flem will leave.”
Beverley Town Cricket Club’s most successful captain last season was Richard Simpson, and he will again lead the fourth team. After securing a runners-up spot in the league and the East Riding Cricket Alliance Intermediate Cup, it will be his fourth year as skipper.
Simpson, speaking about the new season said; “For the fourth team our goal is to ensure that we stay in the division, as the standard of opposition will be much harder than we faced last year, and we will be looking for another good run in the cup after last season’s cup final success.
“As the side is a development side, we will be looking to introduce more of the club’s promising youngsters into the side whilst remaining competitive.”
The success of last season is likely to result in Simpson losing the backbone of his side as they progress through the ranks at Beverley.
Simpson said;
“We will expect to lose the services of the junior players such as Tom Norton, Kieran Simpson, Jake McMullen as they should be now pushing for a 3rd team place after their good 2013 season, and key senior player Dave Parry is injured at present .However, the team should be similar to last season.”
Beverley Town Cricket Club fourth team gets their campaign under way with a trip to North Dalton on the 3rd May.
