Craigieburn bolsters promotion chances with talented all-rounder
After a breakthrough VTCA Division 1 semi-final appearance last season, Craigieburn has bolstered its squad with a DVCA league best-and-fairest winner for the 2020-21 campaign.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport . Followed categories will be added to My News.
VTCA promotion contenders Craigieburn has snared Diamond Valley league best-and-fairest winner Narinder Sharma for the 2020-21 season.
Sharma will link up with former Bundoora teammate Sunny Taggar at Aitken Reserve as they Eagles look to build on last season’s Isaacs Shield semi-final appearance.
Sharma claimed the Barclay Shield’s Christesen Medal with 368 runs at 36.80 and 31 wickets at 8.90 in 2018-19 but could only manage 160 runs and 15 wickets last season.
VTCA: WESTMEADOWS’ KEY RECRUIT FOR SENIOR DEBUT
LEADER: GET YOUR LOCAL CRICKET NEWS HERE
VTCA: KEILOR SET TO LOSE STAR ALL-ROUNDER
Eagles coach Chris Laffan said it was a tribute to the club that Taggar had recommended it to his old teammate.
“It’s fantastic … he was looking to make the switch over from playing so much cricket in the Diamond Valley comp to play on turf,” he said.
“A fair bit of that has come from the positive chat (about the club) that Sunny has been able to provide.
“Adding guys like Sunny, to have him commit again and really enjoy the place enough to really sell it to Narinder is fantastic.
“The attraction of turf cricket was also definitely a big factor for him to come over.
Craigieburn finished fourth last season, reaching Division 1 North finals for the first time in club history.
While the Eagles went down to eventual premier Westmeadows, Laffan said there was plenty of promise in the club’s future.
“I know Mick (Bury), who’s captained the club for quite a few years, was very excited by that fact and the prospect of hopefully having a crack at Senior Division in the coming years.
“It was a big moment for our club, getting that opportunity, and seeing we could match it with Westmeadows.
“It will be interesting with the (competition) rejig and if it is to be all one-dayers that brings up another challenge.
“Some of the bottom sides can pick up wins against the top sides and it makes the competition really even.
“While we do head into a bit of the unknown, we’d love to win more games and have a crack at finals.”
Meanwhile, Craigieburn has appointed Kirsty Klempel as women’s coach for this season.
Laffan said there was equally a lot of excitement around the women’s team’s development.
“We played a lot of young girls last year, took a bit of a step back, but it was exciting to see them get the opportunity,” he said.
“Very much like our men’s side, Kirsty will continue to progress through the young talent.”