With thanks to Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online (merseysidecricket.com can be supported @ https://buymeacoffee.com/tomevanscricket)
Strong foundations at Rainhill as Jamie Harrison eyes top four push
A County Championship winner with Durham in 2013, last season was nonetheless the left-arm seamer’s first as a club captain.
Seventh place in the Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s Premier Division marked an improvement on 2023’s ninth, but more important to Harrison was getting the ball rolling on a cultural change.
He said: “The culture at the club and the teamship between players is a lot better and that’s something I was really keen on changing.
“From a captain’s point of view, I was really over the moon with how the lads bought into it.
“I’m happy with where we are. Rome wasn’t built in a day and there’s things to learn from last season, me included as captain in my first full season.
“There were times I could have stuck to my guns and trusted my experience – some tight finishes and times we could have carried on batting, for example.
“But I’m happy with where we are and where the club is, we’ve got some good cricketers coming through the system so the future looks good for the club.”
With Pakistani slow left-armer Khalid Usman back for his third season at the club, Harrison was keen to bolster the top order in the winter.
He’s done that by acquiring Ryan Brown from Formby and wicketkeeper Alex Winiarski from Nottinghamshire Premier League side West Bridgfordians.
“At the start of the winter, I wanted two batters and one who was a wicketkeeper,” said Harrison.
“I’ve got them, one I’ve seen first hand is top quality and one I’ve heard good things from down in Notts.”
The breakthrough star of last year at Rainhill was Saeed Ullah, who took 36 wickets with his left-arm spin after arriving from Wavertree.
He also impressed with the bat at times, making 67 to anchor a tight chase against Formby.
Harrison said: “I was really happy for Saeed because he’s a lovely, lovely bloke.
“He did a great job for the team and has got a lot of potential – he could be a 40 wicket, 500 run player.
“But he’d be the first to tell you that he needs to carry on working hard, he’s a very humble guy.”
The skipper believes a bit more experience and a few more runs could help his side secure their first top-four finish since coming third in 2017.
He added: “Last year my ambitions were to finish at least sixth or seventh and show signs that we could finish top four or five – if we could make the top four, I’d be really happy. “Against the top teams, we showed signs we could have beaten them but we let old habits creep in.
“With a couple more experienced heads on the batting front, we’ve definitely got a team that can finish in the top four.”
With thanks to Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online (merseysidecricket.com can be supported @ https://buymeacoffee.com/tomevanscricket)
