Sean Bathman takes the captain-coaching reins at VTCA Senior Division club Craigieburn

Keeping Craigieburn in Senior Division, testing himself against the competition’s best and finding the next generation are the challenges awaiting new Eagles coach Sean Bathman.

Sean Bathman has taken the coaching reins at Craigieburn.

Craigieburn is under new management in 2024-25.

Former Carlton and North Melbourne cricketer and long-time local cricket coach Sean Bathman has taken the captain-coaching reins at Aitken Reserve.

Bathman arrives after a successful stint at Lalor Warriors in the North Metro and North West Metro associations, while he’s also coached South Morang and Sunshine YCW.

He takes on the task of cementing the Eagles as a VTCA Senior Division club after a miracle relegation near-miss this season.

The challenge of leading the club back up the ladder and testing himself against some of the best cricketers in Melbourne was too good to pass up.

“I’m really excited to test myself, this is the highest level I’ve coached,” Bathman said.

“I’m excited to be back on turf and Craigieburn, in all my dealings with them, are a fantastic club with really good leadership.

“I put my hat in the ring at Craigieburn and to be honest I wasn’t expecting much but I ended up being successful, which was pretty cool.

“This has given me a great opportunity to coach a great club and play against some of the best local turf cricketers going around.”

Bathman only played four NWMCA Kyte Shield matches this season before dislocated his shoulder.

He revealed he returned to throwing last week and expects to be fully fit for the start of pre-season.

Meanwhile, Craigieburn finished ninth this season, avoiding the drop back to Division 1 with a stunning final-day three-wicket victory over Westmeadows.

Kevin Spaull was the Eagles leading run-scorer, finishing with 331 at an average of 30.09, while Sam Laffan hit 295 and Manpreet Mahla scored 206.

Captain Josh Eaton was the top wicket-taker with 19 scalps at 30.53 ahead of Chameera Perera (16) and James Portou (15).

Eaton has departed for Senior Division rival Yarraville Club.

Bathman was confident the club had the emerging talent to succeed next season.

“It was fantastic to stay in the top division, it was really important for the club to stay up,” he said.

“We feel like we’ve got heaps of internal growth and one of my big focuses is get better every day and be present.

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“If we stay present every ball, every over, over fielding opportunity we will see a big improvement and bring good standards to training.

“We’re mainly looking internally, seeing how we can get better.

“Potentially there will be recruits, I’ll play my cards close to my chest, but we are looking to get better.”

Bathman is the second new coach in Senior Division, joining James Muirhead at Sunshine United, while Aberfeldie is yet to announce its coach for 2024-25.