Stung by a rare finals miss last season, Darley is confident of rebounding swiftly in the Ballarat Cricket Association.
The Lions have been boosted by the return of former West Indies player and club favourite Danza Hyatt, while Englishman Ben Whitehouse has also arrived to bolster the bowling stocks.
The perennial contenders finished sixth last summer after a final-round defeat to eventual premier Bacchus Marsh.
“We’ve reviewed last year fairly heavily and I’ve looked to fill a few of the gaps that we had last year, but we’re also looking for a large amount of growth from our younger players within the club already,’’ coach Nathan Yates said.
“Our batting was probably the thing that let us down last year. We had ourselves in a number of games where we only needed 150 or 200 runs and we couldn’t get it done. That’s a key focus for us moving into this year is being able to keep putting ourselves in good positions … and making sure we get it done with bat and ball.’’
Dual premiership player Hyatt is back at the club after two seasons away.
In his most recent campaign at Darley in 2022-23, Hyatt hammered 409 runs at 68.17 from 10 outings to go with eight wickets.
“He’s a professional unit, the way he goes about it and the way he prepares,’’ Yates said.
“We expect him to pick up where he left off with us.’’
Darley has lost champion and Dilan Chandima, who claimed the competition’s highest individual honour, the EJ Cleary Medal, in 2021-22. He has joined VTCA powerhouse Yarraville Club.
Madushanka Ekanayaka (25 wickets last season) has also departed.
However, BCA great Yates – a four-time winner the EJ Cleary Medal – is confident the Lions have replaced their losses.
He said Whitehouse would be a key inclusion and add pace to their attack.
“He’s just finished up playing his season in England. He’s a fairly raw opening bowler and has the speed there, and we’ll be looking to utilise him with both bat and ball,’’ Yates said.
“We’ve gone like-for-like in our recruiting.
“With that extra bit of growth from our younger guys, I think we should be right in the mix again.’’
Darley has high hopes for young opener Rockey Hoey, who logged 223 runs last season.
Yates said he was keen for the club’s emerging talent to capitalise on their starts at the batting crease.
“For the future growth of Darley Cricket Club, these young guys have got to learn that once you’ve done the hard work and got the start, you’ve got to be able to turn that into a score,’’ he said.
Yates said he expected Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat Redan and Wendouree to be among the leading contenders.
“Most of the clubs have been fairly active in the off-season and you sort of need to be,’’ he said.
“You expect the comp to be fairly even across the board, and it’s about getting a few wins early to take the pressure off yourself and not leaving ourselves vulnerable like we were last year.’’
