Sparsholt’s newly appointed First team captain Andy Worth.

Over the next few weeks, I will be featuring some of Sparsholt Cricket Club’s players as they gear up for the start of the new season next month. This week, skipper Andy Worth and opening bowler Steve Wright tell us about the team, their ambitions for the season and their cricketing backgrounds.

Sparsholt’s Andy Worth is looking forward to a positive first year as captain as his team prepare for the upcoming season. “The key for this season is that the First team have a good year and finish in the top half of the division and have a good run in the Village Knockout competition. The team did very well last year considering the number of injuries we had and the number of people that weren’t available.”

“Lewis Dunford and our overseas player Dan Payne scored over 1200 runs between them, with Dan winning the league’s batting averages. It would be great for the top five to score over 2500 runs this year. Bowling-wise, we probably didn’t have the depth that we needed. We are hoping this year that Mike Haworth and the return of Tim Vokes will hopefully strengthen that, so we can get five very good bowlers bowling for us every week.”

Worth has been given the captaincy this year to provide experience that will benefit the team. “It’s a very young side which is part of the reason that I think I have been asked to take the captaincy. I’ve played for quite a few years now, and I can hopefully provide some guidance to bring it all together, making sure we combine as a unit and that we play well. There are some very talented young players here. The important thing is to make sure that they can deliver on the pitch.”

Andy is used to this role though, captaining the Seconds for the last two years as well as providing a reliable batting option last season. “I was mainly there to bolster the batting, in case of any collapses” he explained. “I made one half century, against US Portsmouth, and had a couple of other key innings where we’d put together partnerships to make sure we got some good scores. One of the main things that the team has had a problem with over the last few years is getting bowled out too cheaply. What we will have to make sure this year is that we have to bat the full fifty overs to make sure we get a decent score.”

Andy has been involved at the club for quite a long time now. “I’ve been playing for Sparsholt for about six or seven years. I got involved through Richard Edwards, the Vice-Chairman, who asked me if I wanted a game. They were short for the Twos and they asked me to play a couple of games. I had a good game, scored a few runs and from there I started to play again. Prior to that I played for Winchester KS for quite a few years and before that I played up in the Central Lancashire League and Palace Shield.”

Although the First team is a priority, Andy is keen on seeing the whole club improving. “It’s not just about the first team, we want to get the Second team out of the division they’re in. If we get a strong First team then obviously we will get a stronger Second team, and that will feed through all of the teams. As you can see we’ve brought the youngsters along [to nets] tonight as well as the senior players. We have a great junior setup with dedicated coaches and we can already see the results and some players to watch out for in the future.”

Sparsholt’s Steve Wright batting last season.

Opening bowler Steve Wright thinks that the team can push on from last year, as he believes that the squad is a stronger one this season. “We did well last year to finish seventh considering the availability of the players we had. Hopefully this year we can go one better. We certainly have the players to do that and we’ve got a couple of new additions. Tim Vokes is back to full fitness who will be a big part of the team this year. It should be a good season if the availability is good, we can beat anyone on our day.”

“On their day everyone in the team can contribute to a match winning performance. Batting-wise if Stu Tognarelli can get going he can get a few runs. I think Mike Haworth will be a big addition to the side this year. He can bat, he can bowl. I think he’s going to do well”. The team is a relative young side, and Steve believes that that potential alongside the experience of some of the older players can only benefit the side. “The average age of the team is about 23, which is brilliant. We have got a young side and we have a wise head in Andy as captain.”

On a personal level, Wright believes his season went quite well last year, but is hoping to get some more wickets this year. “It wasn’t too bad. I was fairly economical, but I didn’t take as many wickets as I would have hoped. I mainly bowled with Jonny Vokes and Alex Dilley last year. It’s always good to have someone down the other end helping you out, keeping one end tight and getting wickets at the other end.”

This is Steve’s fourth season at Sparsholt, having previously played for Flamingos, Basingstoke and Hampshire. “I played eight years for Hampshire, from Under 10s through to Under 17s. I was lucky enough to be in the same age group as Adam Rouse, who played for Hampshire last year. I played a few games with the likes of Danny Briggs, James Vince, Chris Wood and Michael Bates, who are the ones that have really gone on to become established first class cricketers. It was great to play with them and I learnt a lot from the eight years that I had and I was quite lucky to do it.”