Roos’ rampage continues in 23/24

ANGLESEA Cricket Club is well on the way to a fifth-straight Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association A1 premiership with the club’s First XI undefeated through the first month of this season.

The Roos have again staked their claim as the team to beat on the Bellarine, collecting wins against Inverleigh, Jan Juc, Barrabool, and Ocean Grove.

Anglesea will try to limit Barwon Heads to less than 205 runs tomorrow (Saturday, November 12) in the second innings of their Round 5 clash.

First XI coach Bryan Thomas credits the side’s strong start to a busy offseason of recruiting and a quality work ethic at training.

“Last year was a fair struggle given we were undermanned. Last season was actually one of the better premierships I have been involved if I’m honest because of that,” he said.

“This year has been different. We acquired six new names to the side, and they have fitted in perfectly.”

Among the recruits is Steve Nicholson, who made the move over from Ballarat looking for a change of scenery, bringing a new voice to the side’s leadership group alongside skipper Dylan Taylor.

The Roos also picked up Alexander-Thomson’s Ben Harcombe and St Joseph’s medium-pacer Ollie Huby, now playing alongside brother Will.

Harcombe made a grand entrance to the side with a five-wicket performance in the opening round of the season against Inverleigh.

“The new faces have seamlessly meshed into this new-look side, and we’ve firmly addressed that manpower deficit we had to start last year,” Thomas said.

“The club is coming off its fourth-straight premiership and sometimes I feel they don’t get the respect they should, so we’ve done a lot of our recruiting around some of our younger faces that will take us into the club’s next chapter.

“Guys like Simon Umbers and Darcy Elliot, who are around the 23-, 24-year-old mark, we focused heavily on guys that will complement their styles of play.

“It’s actually surprised me how quickly this group has bonded as much as they have. As a result, I feel we’re ahead of the curb.”