By Tyler Lewis
Newly appointed Berwick Cricket Club captain Jordan Cleland is flattered to be listed amongst those who have led before him.
The opening-bat cross wicket-keeper has sat behind spearhead James Wilcock during the last two seasons as the Bears vice-captain.
The request to be captain left Cleland cajoled, who intended on continuing his second-in-charge role this summer.
“I suppose the privilege and honour of following the footsteps of the people that have gone before me,” he said, as the most exciting aspect of being captain.
“Your Jarrod Goodes, Ryan Crawford, Matt Chasemore in recent years… I would never put myself in the same sort of players as they have been.
“It’s quite flattering to be given the opportunity to captain Berwick.
“The immediate reaction was a bit of shock to be fair, I wasn’t aware that James (Wilcock) was stepping down.
“We had discussion in the previous weeks about team selection and how we wanted the team to look with him as captain and me resuming as vice-captain.
“I was a little bit shocked and taken aback by it.”
While there’s a plethora of experience coming from the likes of Jake Hancock, Andrew Perrin and Cleland himself, the new skipper admits his side will resemble a Gabba wicket on Day 1 of a Test match: a sprinkling of green with a rock solid foundation.
“We set up a little bit differently this year,” he announced.
“The biggest challenge for me this year will be to just work out how the team will work and function.
“I am aiming to bleed a bit of youth through the side with Jarrod Goodes being out until Christmas and Matty Chasemore wanting to play with his son while he still can.
“We have the opportunity to play a few of the younger boys that have played really well in our twos the last few years and give them a good run at it.”
The DNA of Cleland’s unit won’t be too dissimilar to the successful Berwick outfits of the past, but he has confessed to peaking over the fence of the recently triumphant neighbour.
“I think it’ll be something similar to what Springy South brought to the table last year, they were incredibly hard to score against,” he explained.
“They had great game plans and they fielded really well, so this year we will aim to get back to basics and be one of the stronger sides in the field.
“We’ve got a really good bowling line-up, so we will try and utilise that as best as we can and chase as little as target as we can each week in, week out.”
