Caroline Springs took the bold step of stepping up two divisions to be part of the Williamstown and District Cricket Association’s top-flight A turf competition this summer.
The WDCA had put a call out to clubs in the off-season to see if a brave one would be willing to sign on to top division, eliminating the need for a bye.
The Falcons, champions of the third-tier C-grade last season, volunteered to bypass B turf and run the A turf gauntlet.
Falcons president Steve Collins said his club had been fully aware of the task confronting his young players but felt a harsh learning curve would stand them in good stead in the future.
“The club thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to blood our young players,” he said. “It’s certainly been a challenging year, but there’s no regrets from our point of
view.
“We’ve got some great young kids coming through and we’re sure that any short-term pain will be outweighed by long-term success.
“There’s some very strong teams and we went in with no illusions. But we always saw this year and potentially next year as a development period.”
The Falcons have struggled in terms of results and are sitting last on the ladder and yet to record a win.
They were given a lesson by Melton Centrals in a seven-wicket loss on Saturday.
PICTURE GALLERY: Melton Centrals v Caroline Springs
But at stages this season the Falcons have given opposition sides a good contest.
“There’s been a couple of games where we’ve been ultra-competitive and if not for losing wickets at key stages, we might’ve jagged a win or two,” Collins said.
The Falcons are raw, as was revealed by the look of their side in the game prior to Christmas, with two 16-year olds, a 17-year old and some 18-year-olds taking to the field.
It’s boys versus men for the most part, and there’s no substitute for experience.
Playing coach Troy Blackman has been entrusted to accelerate the learning process for this young group of players.
“He’s coming towards the end of his career, but he’s been fantastic for us, bringing the young guys on,” Collins said.
“We’ve got some more young talent … Troy’s main job is to bring those boys through so that in a short period of time we can be competitive in A turf.”
Naturally, the stand-outs for the Falcons have been the more seasoned campaigners.
Captain Kane Sevior has provided an all-round contribution with a club-high 13 wickets to go with 153 runs.
Dave Martin leads the batting with 174 runs and David Hannett has snared 12 wickets and taken four catches.
“The older guys have taken the lead this year with the big step-up, which is sort of what you’d expect,” Collins said.
“They’ve done an outstanding job of bringing the younger guys along.”
The Falcons will continue striving for that breakthrough win.
“We’d love to put a couple of wins up,” Collins said.
“We certainly want to continue to blood and develop the young boys. That’s where we see the future of our club.”
