Cricket Club Issue 49 | Page 71

Melrose Melrose CRICKET CLUB 2019 promises to be an exciting year for Melrose CC both on and off the field. Cricket Club Magazine recently caught up with Club Representative Rowan Williams to find out more about how the club has been getting along lately. CC: How long have you been involved and what first attracted you to the club? CC: How would you say the off-season has gone for the club? RW: I have been a member of Melrose CC for the past two seasons and this season will be the third. I was first attracted to the club after talking with a colleague who knew about the club but didn’t play. He put me in touch with Barry Scott, a previous captain and member of over twenty years. Barry invited me along to training one Wednesday night and I just kept turning up until I got selected to play in the team! RW: The off season has been fairly quiet as a lot of the team have busy rugby seasons, so it is hard to organise a good amount of indoor training at local school’s sports halls. However, there were very good turnouts at the two ‘off season socials’ where a few pints were consumed alongside some heavy tunes. Keith Farnish, a lynchpin member of the club, provided a big speaker setup as well as ‘good banter’ to ensure they were big nights. CC: What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your role? RW: This will be my first season as captain so I think the most challenging and rewarding aspects are yet to come. So far it has been fairly challenging to get the clubhouse and wicket prepared but we have managed with lots of members willing to help out. CC: How’s the general mood down at the club at the moment? RW: The mood is good. That’s a definite. We have a predominantly young team with a few old heads thrown in and around on the fringes to keep things running smoothly. There have been good turnouts on the first few training sessions and the players are really keen to start. I even got a text from a teammate called Tom Brown, who was on holiday in France at the time, telling me that he will be available for selection for the first game as he couldn’t make training that week. That’s the sort of enthusiasm that’s being generated. www.sportip.biz 71