Moorlands Cricket Club captain Eddie Walmsley believes this could be an exciting season as the team has been freshened up for the new campaign and an assault on silverware.
Mirfield-based Moorlands are one of the top sides in the Huddersfield Cricket League and have won the Sykes Cup for the last two years, beating off favourites Hoylandswaine both times.
Walmsley says a new-look, younger team with fresh ambition could be the key to a successful campaign.
He added: “We want to have a good season all round, of course. I sit down with the hierarchy at the club before every season and we discuss in detail what we’d like to do. However we don’t just enter a competition to take part in it, we enter it to try and win it, it’s that simple really.
“I have been really pleased to lead the club to two Sykes Cup wins lately but it’d be great to make it a third and we’ve shown we can beat the very best in Hoylandswaine on our day in that competition. We have also entered the Heavy Woollen Cup and want to go far in that too.”
When it comes to the Huddersfield Cricket League Premiership, Walmsley is looking for a vast improvement on last year’s showing.
“Last year we underperformed in the league,” he said. “That was because of many reasons – players being on holiday, having work commitments and injuries.
“This year we have a full 11 to go full out in all the competitions. Hopefully that means a more consistent team will perform better and we won’t be at the wrong end of the table like we were last year. At times we were in the bottom four which made things nervy.”
Walmsley, 32, has been at Moorlands for six years and been captain for the last three years.
“I love playing at Moorlands,” he said. “It’s a real community club and close to where I live so it’s perfect. Hopefully we’ll have a successful season and enjoy challenging at the right end of the league again.”
