Taylors Lakes has strengthened its batting stocks as it tries to turn around its fortunes in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association east-west.
After the first six rounds, the Lions are without a win and sit second bottom after a disappointing start to the season.
The Lions batting has been the biggest concern as they’ve failed to put enough runs on the board.
The Lions had their best performance with the bat in round six against Donvale, making 9-176 but it wasn’t enough for victory. They struggled to make runs in the rest of their matches, with only one player scoring more than 100 runs for the season.
With that in mind, the Lions have added Englishman Ben Coddington to their squad.
Connington previously played in Australia in the 2017-28 season for the Druids in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association division 1.
He made 305 runs at an average of nearly 28. He also played one game for them in the 2019-20 season.
Coddington was set to arrive in Australia on Wednesday and played in the Lions against Mt Waverley.
He made an instant impact, hitting a 100 but it wasn’t enough for the side to get the win.
“Ben is a top order batsman who joins us from Wimbledon Cricket Club,” the club said on social media.
“Ben has experience playing in County Cricket with Northamptonshire and has played 2nd XI over two seasons.
“Ben has also played minor county cricket for Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire respectively. He now lives in London and plays for Wimbledon Cricket Club in the Surrey Championship Premier Division.
“In the last English season, Wimbledon won both the league and T20 premierships. Ben had a fantastic season opening the batting, scoring 494 runs at an average of 41.”
Captain Alex Deuchar previously admitted that the wet weather has played a role in the side’s performances after their first couple of losses.
“In the first XI, to be honest I don’t think we’re trained on turf,” he said at the time. “There’s been no centre wicket practice.
“We’ve been training on outdoor synthetic and indoor synthetic and have not made the adjustment.
“We haven’t adjusted to the moving ball on the slower surface and said there have been a few soft dismissals.”
The Lions now have two matches before Christmas, this week against Bayswater and then Melton.
