Brunswick score huge coup on eve of VSDCA season, signing Clint McKay
Brotherly love has lured Clint McKay out of his very short retirement after the Essendon great and former Test paceman joined his brother at VSDCA club Brunswick.
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Clint McKay isn’t ready to hang the spikes up just yet.
After announcing his retirement from Premier Cricket club Essendon, the former Test paceman has signed at Brunswick, where he will play alongside his brother David.
McKay is expected to play a handful of games for the VSDCA club this season as he juggles his full-time coaching commitments with the Vic Metro under-19s and Melbourne Stars.
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Wicks coach Liam Murphy was delighted to welcome a player and person of McKay’s calibre to the club.
“We’re very lucky that Clint is keen to play for us this year,” Murphy said.
“He’s a pretty impressive person.
“His ability on-field is clearly exceptional, and he’s done some pretty amazing things in cricket over his career.
“I think he’ll provide some really positive role-modelling for our young quicks.
“He’ll play when he can, but we think the benefit will be more what he can do with the players when he’s around the group at training.”
McKay played 12 games for Essendon last season, taking 13 wickets and adding 114 runs, as the Bombers reached the preliminary final.
Brunswick will be looking to improve on its own preliminary final finish but face stiff opposition in the North-South group.
Murphy said the club wasn’t looking to make a big splash over the off-season, happy to continue to develop the talent already at the club.
James Pearson finished third in the First XI Val Holton Medal and was named in the Team of the Year alongside teammate Leigh Brennan, with the pair filling the top-two positions on the leading wicket-takers chart.
Ryan O’Brien claimed the James Earle Medal as the competition’s best Second XI player.
“We haven’t gone on an aggressive recruiting campaign, we’re pretty happy with the group we’ve got,” Murphy said.
“The Second XI won the flag last year, so there’s a lot of quality cricketers in our club that we’re looking to develop and promote.”