Premier Cricket: First-class boost for Kingston Hawthorn
The Hawks have signed two English imports, including a County player, as they look improve in 2022-23 under passionate coach Peter Marshall.
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Frustrated after losing homegrown talent to rival clubs, Kingston Hawthorn coach Peter Marshall has looked overseas to replenish stocks.
And he’s pleased with the results; the Hawks have signed two talented English players.
Jordan Bulpitt, 24, is a left-arm paceman, who has played a first-class game for Cambridge MCCU, while 21-year-old batsman Jamie Crawley is said to be an exciting prospect.
Marshall hopes the imports can have a positive impact on Kingston Hawthorn’s emerging list as well spark a bit of excitement after the Hawks finished on the bottom last season.
“I’m all about development,’’ Marshall said.
“I’ve just come off working with 45 kids doing a winter program.
“We’ve just got to see some improvement on the field and some reward for the boys who have stuck with me.
“We think we’ll go okay.
“There are some clubs shooting for a premiership, there are some clubs who want to finish top four. We just want to earn some respect and have some joy along the way because cricket’s a tough game so we want to have some enjoyment.’’
Kingston Hawthorn have lost promising young paceman Jade Christensen to Dandenong and spinner Prateek Patil to Ringwood.
Christensen took 24 wickets last season to emerge as an exciting prospect.
Marshall said the club needed “top end talent and a little bit of experience’’, hence the search overseas.
“I thought how am I going to do this,’’ Marshall said.
“And we reached out to a few senior players around the traps and it was difficult to get them over the line, so I thought, well the best way to do this is call on my contacts in the UK. I’ve been there nine times.
“To be honest I had a really good response from quite a few of the county clubs.
“But the problem is if you get top enders, one, there’s an issue with either getting them in the country or, two, what they’re going to cost you and, three, how long they can stay with county pre seasons.
“I had an overwhelming response with some young lads who wanted to come out for an Australian summer.
“Not only did they want to improve their cricket and experience a summer down under but also help my young group.
“We were pretty particular not going for an older player who was just going to look at it as a bit of a holiday towards the end of his career but more someone between 21 and 24 who could really enhance their cricket but help us at the same time.’’
Bulpitt is an exciting left-arm seamer who played for Warwickshire in the Royal London One Day Cup competition last summer. The Stafford-based quick earned his List A debut courtesy of his exploits for both Walsall and Warwickshire 2nd XI.
Having enjoyed a first-class debut for Cambridge MCCU in April 2018, Bulpitt toiled away in the Birmingham League for Wolverhampton before his prolific 2021 calendar year, when he took the Birmingham League by storm bagging 31 wickets.
Crawley is an exciting top-order batter from the Wirral, in Lancashire, currently playing for Wallasey CC (Liverpool League) and Durham 2nd XI.
The Scottish native has hit his straps in recent years and is now pushing for full County honours. In 2021, Crawley racked up 1020 in all competitions for Wallasey, averaging 45.52.
He also blasted 206 from only 144 balls in a regional match.
Marshall said opportunities abound at the Hawks, based at the picturesque Walter Galt Reserve, Parkdale.
“I’m passionate,’’ he said.
“We know where we’re at and we know where we want to get.
“We want to find a few little gold nuggets along the way and push a few kids.
“There are great opportunities for young bayside cricketers who don’t want to drive up to the city.’’
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