After losing in last year’s qualifying final, Diggers Rest Bulla is ready to take the next step in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association under new leadership.
Club legend Darren Quarrell has returned to the club after five years out of cricket, due to work reasons, to coach for the club he loves.
Quarrell will return as a player as well, but said he would like to jump between the grades as he tries to get an idea of the players at the club. He is the club’s second highest ever wicket taker with 261 wickets.
“We’re pretty keen to get started now that footy’s over, so now everyone’s back,” he said.
“We’ve been doing some indoor work and just getting some bat and ball rhythm in.
“Trying to get everything in motion, technique and that kind of stuff ready to go for proper training times.”
Quarrell said he has been loving his time back at the club.
“I missed it that much,” he said. “I’m enjoying it more than I did before.
“The first couple of sessions were interesting, trying to get back into bowling, my shoulder, and back, and legs, took me a while to get over it but I’m alright now.”
After finishing fourth in the McIntyre Cup last season, most of what the club needs is at its disposal, however, a few players have joined the fold in the off season.
They did lose a number of key players as well.
“We’ve had a couple of people come in, some pretty good players,” he said.
“Just hopefully they stick around as they’re in the middle of deciding whether they want to come around or not.
“But with the guys that we’ve got, I think we’ve got a good chance to be honest.
“They way they’ve been seeing the ball, because I’ve been swapping the net sessions so everyone gets a chance to play against all different types of bowlers.”
However, with it being Quarrell’s first year as head coach in his career, he is tempering expectations a little bit.
“Just to be in the top four is a bonus, especially in my first year of coaching,” he said.
“Top four would be like winning a final for me.
“The club would love that, we’re a pretty young club now.”
The Burras will start their season against Gisborne on October 7 at home.
Harper Sercombe
