VSDCA: Elsternwick captain LJ Edwards believes the Eels have a ‘point of difference’ this summer

Elsternwick captain LJ Edwards has spoken about his side’s fast start to the VSDCA summer and how he sees a “point of difference” to this year compared to last.

Elsternwick captain LJ Edwards hopes his side’s experience will be the “point of difference” at crunch time this season.

The Eels are off to a fast-start in the south-east section of the VSDCA with four wins from each of their first four matches.

The record is not too dissimilar to last summer but Edwards feels his group can capitalise on the solid start by remaining calm when those difficult situations arrive.

“Compared to last year we have more leaders in the team, so I think there will be more cooler heads out in the middle when things aren’t going our way,” he said.

“Guys (with experience) apply themselves a bit better, last year when things got bad for us we fell away quite quickly.

“I think that will be a point of difference for us this year, we have got guys that have played a lot of cricket.

“That’s the hope anyway, that’s what I am expecting when we come into some tricky situations, hopefully that will be where we’ll be able to build on our start.”

Elsternwick batter Finn Usher. Picture: Valeriu Campan

LJ Edwards. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Elsternwick added Tom Collins, Ollie Birts, Finn Usher, Sean Kingston and Cam McKnight this off-season.

They have all featured regularly in the Eels’ First XI.

While he expected his group to be strong, Edwards admits to being pleasantly surprised.

“I knew we were getting a couple of the guys from the UK in Ollie Birts and Tom Collins, I played with them when I was in England,” he said.

“They have tremendous leadership, skills and experience, I knew we would have a fairly experienced and well-led club.

“I was expecting to be quite strong, then the addition of Finn Usher and Cam McKnight have come in and bolstered the team.

“We’ve probably gained a few players in the ones that we weren’t expecting, it’s probably a reason to the good start and why we have higher expectations that what we originally thought.”

The Eels’ most recent win came against Donvale where they reeled in the target of 151 inside 31 overs with five wickets in the shed.

Elsternwick has Endeavour Hills and Box Hill in its next two fixtures.