Will this be Norths’ season?
It’s taken more than 10 years for Craig Shanks to start bossing some of his teammates around.
The 33-year-old has been installed as North City Cricket Club’s premier team skipper for the upcoming season, which kicks off with a one-dayer against Victoria University at Linden on Saturday.
He is one of the elder statesmen of the team these days and while the temptation might be there to open both batting and bowling, that’s far from his thoughts.
‘‘I’ll still be at first change [bowling] and bat down the order,’’ Shanks said with a grin. ‘‘My job will be to gee up the boys, keep the attitude positive and make some decisions on the field.
‘‘I was asked to be captain and I didn’t hesitate. We’ll be underdogs in the eyes of many out there, but I have complete confidence in this group.
‘‘There’s some real talent and we’ve been training our socks off.’’
Sushant Balajee and Russell Pepperell have left for Taita and University, respectively, but newcomer Matthew Green, from England, will open the batting for Norths.
Michael Pollard, Mark Gillespie and Dane Hutchinson will play in between commitments for the Wellington rep side, and Shanks said there were younger players looking to make their mark this season.
Zac Ringrose, Dan Rose, Jordan McDermott and Luke Boyadjian were players to watch, he said, and the wise head of Raj Chawla would be relied on heavily.
One of the club’s all-time top run scorers, Sam Fairley, is back on board as a coach, something the players were thrilled about, Shanks said.
‘‘He’s great around the younger guys with his professionalism and hugely respected – the way he leads training and prepares you is fantastic.’’
The days of the 2007-08 summer – when North City made the two-day final and won games for fun – might be a distant memory, with regular victories a lot harder to come by over the past few seasons, but Shanks said he was approaching the coming weeks with plenty of positive thoughts.
Norths have been training indoors since August and lately twice a week. For the first time in many years, several pre-season games were organised.
‘‘It’s been good and there’s nothing like the pressure of real matches to really test you,’’ Shanks said. ‘‘We have a good bond in the team and we’ll get stuck in.
‘‘We could surprise a few teams and our goal is to make the top six Pearce Cup round.’’
Shanks, who is also the club captain, said he expected the usual suspects of Easts and Karori to dominate, but felt that Onslow, Taita and Hutt District would be pushing hard for honours.