Newcomb may be a shadow of what it was, but the tide is slowly turning

BRETT Anderton couldn’t believe his eyes.

Walking into Ervin Reserve for the first time, Anderton questioned what he’d got himself into.

He was the new coach of Newcomb Cricket Club and the look of despair was all over his face.

“It was the biggest shock I’ve had in cricket,” said Anderton, who enters his second season in charge of the Bulls in the BPCA.

“Coming from a club like South Barwon, who has seven teams, 100 juniors and brilliant facilities to a club with facilities that haven’t been updated since 1975, it was an eye-opener.

“The ground is part dirt, part grass and the nets are old. We went through 44 players last year and only had 21 qualify come finals, so we had to play one short in the D Grade semi-final.

“We were also scrounging around for people to be available. It’s not ideal, but that’s what we’ve had to deal with.”

Fast forward 12 months and Anderton and president Brendan Sheedy are much more bullish about the future.

Numbers on the training track are strong and an influx of talent has the club believing it can achieve positive results on the pitch.

The hardworking Sheedy, who has been at the club for 14 years, credits Anderton for the steady rise.

“Brett came with some fresh ideas because he’s been at a few sporting clubs,” Sheedy said. “We’ve got new apparel, new sponsors and there’s a great atmosphere around the club.”

Anderton added: “We’re trying to rebrand the club, we’re family-oriented and plenty of the players have partners and kids and they bring them all along. People could