With thanks to Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online (merseysidecricket.com can be supported @ https://buymeacoffee.com/tomevanscricket)
Big change at Wallasey as Beaver looks to the future
That sound you can hear is top-order batters across the Comp’s catchment area breathing a sigh of relief – Sumit Ruikar will not be back at Wallasey this year.
After 335 wickets in five league seasons, including a title-winning 95 in 2022, the Indian slow left-armer has moved on, to Garstang in the Northern League.
But skipper Greg Beaver believes Ruikar’s departure leaves an opportunity as well as a gap.
“We felt as a club at some point we had to start looking at moving forward,” he said.
“Sumit was instrumental to the success we’ve had over the past few years, from a playing point of view and as a person.
“But we needed to take out the emotion and look at how we envisaged the next few years panning out.
“We had a plan with him and it worked perfectly, and it resulted in some fantastic times, none more so than the 2022 season.
“But I spoke to Rui before Christmas and we agreed it was time to part ways.
“A lot of clubs get overseas players and they don’t see them again; he’s become part of the furniture and he’s welcome back any time.”
Ruikar will be replaced as overseas by Australian Ejaaz Alavi, a left-arm spinner who can bat – some plans are not worth deviating from too much.
But Beaver doesn’t see the new recruit matching Ruikar’s workload with the ball, and has worked to strengthen his attack by signing former New Brighton all-rounder Seb Botes after a year with Moorside in the Greater Manchester Cricket League.
The skipper is excited to see what Botes can do, and is not surprised to see a player coming back to the Comp after time away.
He said: “We’ve been really keen on him for a while, he’s a fantastic young cricketer who’s got so much talent at only 22.
“He showed a lot of potential in the Comp before he made the move, and he’s got what it takes to turn into one of the best in the league. Hopefully he can show that at Wallasey.
“We might all be biased but it’s no shock. When you see the overseas professionals this league attracts, the county cricketers we attract, and other lads who leave their local leagues to join ours – the proof is in the pudding.
“The Comp is renowned as one of the best leagues in the country and it’s definitely the place to be.”
The weather is turning nice ahead of the start of the season, which is good news for nearly all cricketers.
Only the likes of Wallasey’s Matty Keogh, who brilliantly exploited damp conditions last summer to take 57 league wickets – more than any seamer since 2016 – disagree.
“Matty is waking up every morning, opening the curtains and praying for rain,” said Beaver.
“For him to do what he did last year was superb and hopefully he can perform just as well.”
Wallasey finished fifth in the league last year, their biggest “what if” coming in the Comp’s section of the ECB National T20.
Needing nine runs from eight balls, with seven wickets remaining, their middle order stumbled – and Northern went on to win the whole tournament.
For Beaver, it was a frustrating example of the challenges facing sides operating just below the Premier Division’s imposing top two.
He said: “With it being such a strong league, your hardest games are the early ones.
“Northern and Ormskirk are both really strong and it takes a lot to get past them.
“But because they go so deep, it doesn’t reflect badly on anyone else in the league.
“We kind of fizzled out a bit last year – I think if we didn’t have availability issues we would have maintained third place behind two superb teams in Northern and Ormskirk. “So for me this year, I’m aiming for a top four finish. We didn’t do great in the cups last year and I’d like to go a lot deeper.”
New Birkenhead Park skipper hopes to bring red-hot cup form into league campaign
For those of us brave enough to put our predictions in writing ahead of last season, there was pretty much one constant: Birkenhead Park would surprise a few people.
Newly promoted to the Premier Division but with a fire in their belly and a top-quality pro in Sri Lankan Test spinner Malinda Pushpakumara, Park were tipped to make waves.
They showed their quality in winning the ECHO Cup, defeating hosts Formby then Rainford on a scorching finals day.
But in the league, things were not so hot. Pushpakumara’s arrival was delayed, and the other marquee signing, Andrew Clarke, struggled for fitness.
Pushpakumara’s overseas slot has been taken by the popular Pakistani slow left-armer Safi Abdullah, back for a third stint with the club after spending last season at Newton-le-Willows.
“We started off without a pro and got in a bit of a rut, and when you’re losing matches it’s hard to break that cycle,” Harris said.
“Malinda did really well but he’s a different type of signing to Safi.
“He’d more come over for a bit of a holiday, towards the end of his career – he did great on the pitch but he wasn’t someone who got too involved in club life.”
Experienced seamer Chris Stenhouse also returns to the club he used to lead, having played at Oxton since 2018.
Harris added: “He and Safi are both really high-quality players and they’re really experienced at this level.
“So we know what’s coming and we can pretty much bank on what they can offer.
“We feel like we’re building a team with a lot of experience at this level.
“Our bowling was good anyway last year, but availability was a bit of an issue.”
And with Clarke back to full fitness, his skipper can’t wait to see what he brings to the top order, having shown glimpses last year.
He said: “Last year was difficult for Clarkey because when he came, he wasn’t fully fit and was waiting for an operation – it happened sooner than we thought it would.
“But he is fully fit now, and we know how good he is.
“We’re excited to see a full season out of him – we just have to stay at the crease while he’s there.”
A big-hitting all-rounder who made 72 from 55 balls in the ECHO Cup triumph, Harris is excited to lead his home town club, and is keen to do so on the front foot.
“Obviously we love playing in this league, but it’s very tough,” he said. “I think this year we’ll be a closer-knit squad and I’m hoping the experience and know-how at this level will help us a lot.”
McKiernan itching to take control of his boyhood club Leigh
Mattie McKiernan is back in charge at Leigh – and he’s looking forward to taking command.
The all-rounder last led his boyhood club in 2015, before his five-year stint in the professional game with Derbyshire.
But now his county career has come to an end, and after the departure of last year’s skipper, Finn Hulbert, to Liverpool, he was keen to retake the reins.
He said: “I’ve always enjoyed captaincy, so it’s one of those where I wasn’t necessarily looking for it, but if the opportunity arose then I was keen to put my hand up.
“I’m not one to look too far ahead, I’m keen on making sure our prep is good, our mindset and our intent.
“Hopefully if we look after the small pieces, the big pieces will pull themselves together.”
After Lancashire title winner Karl Brown, who was skipper from 2021 to 2023, McKiernan is the second former county man to lead the side in recent years.
And he knows that kind of star quality can be crucial in attracting talent like batter Luke Prescott from Orrell Red Triangle and seamer George Brown from Monton in the Greater Manchester Cricket League.
McKiernan says Karl Brown in particular had a big impact on the Lancashire academy pair’s decision to make the move to Leigh.
“The club as a whole is very attractive to players,” he said.
“Karl in particular has been very instrumental in getting the new lads across, it’s brilliant having him on board.
“Everyone’s been really impressed with them – how they’ve settled, how they’ve handled themselves and the skills they’ve shown. They’ve been brilliant so far.”
Adding to the potential for surname confusion, George’s brother Archie Brown, a wicketkeeper, has also joined the club.
McKiernan reckons the pieces are falling into place for a strong season, after a poor start put paid to their legitimate expectations last year.
He said: “It’s clear looking back that our season was broken down into two halves.
“In the first half, we were really poor, but when June and July came round we were one of the form teams in the league.
“I’ll be looking for more consistency – we’re obviously not going to win every game, but if we can carry into the season what we’ve done in practice, we’ll perform more often than not.
“I think the lads are in a good spot. They’ve trained really hard and we’ve had a good winter socially as well, we’ve seen each other quite a bit.
“We’re ready to get going.”
One thing that sets Leigh apart from their rivals is the lack of a frontline left-arm spinner since Alex Mason left at the end of 2023.
With southpaws dominating both in terms of wickets taken and overs bowled, it’s a bold strategy – even with McKiernan’s professional-quality leg-spin to hand.
But the skipper is happy with his attack, and doesn’t see the need to recruit anyone else.
“We’re very happy with the three new signings and the make-up of the squad,” he added.
“There’s a hell of a lot of left-arm spin in our league, but we feel like our attack is pretty varied and we cover a lot of bases.
“Our seamers are all slightly different and we’ve got a couple of lads who spin it both ways. “Unless the right opportunity presents itself, we’re happy with the attack as it is.”
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With thanks to Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online (merseysidecricket.com can be supported @ https://buymeacoffee.com/tomevanscricket)
