Thirty years ago, Taylors Lakes was a cricket outpost with a home ground described as ‘a paddock’ on the outskirts of Brimbank.
Since then, the Lions have come much further than even the most optimistic supporter could have envisaged.
And at a historic extraordinary general meeting last week, the Lions members voted unanimously in favour of a move to the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.
The chance to join the Sub-District ranks was created after long-time club Sunshine departed for the Victorian Turf Cricket Association, effectively swapping places with the Lions.
“It’s a proud moment for all club members,” president Rob Arnold said.
The history of the Sub-District competition was the main drawcard for Taylors Lakes.
The association will hold its 109th annual general meeting next week and the inclusion of new clubs Taylors Lakes and St Bernard’s Old Collegians will likely be front and centre of discussions.
“When we met with the Sub-District executive, the history of the association was very appealing to us,” Arnold said.
It was not a decision made on a whim by Taylors Lakes, as the Lions sought the opinions of all its members to see if a move was worthwhile pursuing.
Travel was the main question mark for the players, but the chance to play against better opposition on historic grounds was appealing.
“We explained to them, that the Thirds and Fourths would have to travel no further than they did VTCA,” Arnold said.
“We canvassed the First and Second XI players to identify if they had a problem with travelling, because there’s a little bit more in sub-district. But they were all more than happy to go along with that because they believe they’ll play on better pitches and in better facilities and ground conditions, and it’s a better standard of play.
“They’re really excited to be able to test themselves at that level.”
Taylors Lakes does not expect to be challenging for premierships in its first year at sub-district but does expect to be competitive in all grades.
“Our bottom end is very strong,” Arnold said. “But we don’t have any delusional ideas that our First XI will play finals in our first year or two.
“We believe we’ll develop over the next three or four years and be pushing for finals by then.”
Taylors Lakes has reappointed coach Kris McMullen. He will be assisted by Glen Jones, John Markham, Mick Stevens and Rashid Bashir.
The Lions have two imports locked in for next season and have signed top-order batsman Shaun Guerra from Keilor.
“There are 30 premierships and 2000 games of cricket on our coaching panel,” Arnold said.
“One coach can’t bring that but, collectively, we found the panel worked very well.”
