DVCA Cricket: Epping primed to climb Barclay Shield ladder after a fruitful off-season

EPPING has reason to be optimistic of climbing the Diamond Valley Cricket Association Barclay Shield ladder after a productive off-season.

Hussain Hanif has taken over as coach at Epping. Picture: Hamish Blair

EPPING has reason to be optimistic of climbing the Diamond Valley Cricket Association Barclay Shield ladder after a productive off-season.

The Pingers have locked in experienced paceman Hussain Hanif as director of coaching after his successful stint at Yarraville Club, while batsman Todd Hughes has arrived from Lalor Warriors.

All-rounder John Kulikowski, who has joined Lower Plenty, is the only departure of note.

Last season’s captain-coach Andrew Bennett has remained at the club and will retain a leadership role as skipper of the First XI.

“When you look at Diamond Creek, Riverside, Macleod, they’ve all operated a dual coach and captain,” Bennett said.

“We identified Huss on a couple of factors. He had some previous experience coaching, he’s in a successful environment at Yarraville Club, he’s in the Cricket Victoria system as a welfare and development officer and his kid already plays Milo cricket with us.

“Being able to tap into that knowledge and those connections allows us to set up a platform for the whole club.”

Hanif was a member of Yarraville Club’s Turf Cricket Senior Division premiership-winning side last summer and collected 42 wickets in three seasons for the Clubbers.

While a question mark remains over whether he will take the field, Bennett is confident Hanif will eventually be testing out rival batsmen.

“Initially, he was unsure. He wants to get what he’s been brought on board for correct first,” Bennett said.

“Body permitting, and once he’s set up, he’ll play. I get the feeling his feet are already starting to itch. That can only be a benefit for us.”

Hughes hit 456 runs at 32.6 in the North Metro Cricket Association in 2017-18 and has topped 400 runs five times in the past nine seasons.

“I think he’s won the last nine club champions or something like that and he’s only 29 years old,” Bennett said. “He lives in Epping and the stars just aligned on that one. We’re extremely happy to have someone of that calibre — player and person — on board.”

Epping finished eighth last season after logging three wins and a draw.

“We lost over 15 games of unavailabilities in the Barclay team, twice we bowled on the rain-affected shorter games, the last game we lost by two wickets and the second-last game we lost by a wicket,” Bennett said.

“We had a really frustrating year, but there was glimpses littered through there of opportunities that we ultimately missed.”