Premier Cricket: Ringwood premiership captain Tom Stray comes out of retirement

Ringwood premiership captain Tom Stray is coming out of retirement to make a return to Premier Cricket, where he made his name as one of the competition’s top batsman.

Tom Stray punches one down the ground.

Decorated Ringwood batsman Tom Stray is returning to Jubilee Park.

The Rams have announced that Stray will be making a comeback to Premier Cricket next season.

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Stray, 32, played in Ringwood’s back-to-back premierships in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and captained the 2014-15 flag.

Guess who's back, back again
Straysy’s back, tell a friend!

We are pleased to announce that former 1st XI Premiership captain Tom Stray is making a return to the RCC.

Tom will be part of our playing group for 2019/20 and will add valuable experience both on and off the field. pic.twitter.com/DcnMVPPGOd

— Ringwood CC (@RingwoodCC) May 15, 2019

He scored 6397 runs and hit eight centuries across 196 First XI games before retiring after the 2015-16 grand final defeat due to work commitments.

Stray also made seven first-class appearances for Victoria between 2011 and 2012.

“I’ve been in close contact with the club since I finished. I left because work and family commitments got pretty busy,” Stray said.

“Work is still there and it’s still busy but it’s consolidated a little bit and freed up a bit of my time.

“I’ve been down there as much as I can staying around the club. I still love the place and I just wanted to get back involved and I guess it’s more that time has freed up.

“I left because that was the issue and now there is a bit more time it’s made it a bit easier to come back.”

The champion right-hander dipped his toes in the Vic Super Slam waters for the Rams last season before a snapped achilles brought a premature end to his return.

“I probably got a bit of the bug back I guess … the playing group is still pretty young and there’s still a lot of real talent in there and a lot of premiership players,” Stray said.

“I’d love to get back and see the club shoot up the ladder again and challenge for finals.”

Tom Stray captained Ringwood to the 2014-15 flag. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Young left-hander Tom Rogers has also crossed to Ringwood from Melbourne University.

Rogers made 51 First XI appearances for the Students across four seasons and hit 1322 runs.

Ringwood has missed finals since its most recent grand final appearance, but Stray predicted the Rams would “get back there pretty quickly if things can turn”.

“While Dave King, Ian Holland, (Matt) Fotia, (Michael) Topp are there, Zac Evans is coming through, there’s some serious talent there,” Stray said.

“I think for whatever reason things haven’t quite gone their way the last couple of years and they’re not far off.”

Ringwood expects to announce its new captain in the coming days.