Winch’s Premier recruit
Carson snared for comeback on night at brewery
IT is enough to strike fear into any capable batsman — Marc Carson is out of retirement.
Winchelsea has unveiled its boom recruit as it enters a new dawn in the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association, with former Premier cricket champion Carson signing with the club.
The Blues have also netted former junior and South Barwon allrounder Daniel Johnson, appointing him as Agrade captain as well as former premiership player Ryan Tench and City United star Matt Nelson.
“We’ve got a couple of others who will come and do a pre-season, but they haven’t committed,” Winchelsea president Nathan Schroeter said.
“At this stage we haven’t lost anyone from last year, but I’m not sure if Casey Lang will be with us.
“He hasn’t said that he’s not playing, but I dare say he’ll move on.”
The Blues have appointed Brad Evans as non-playing coach, while Carson joins the side as a player.
The former Geelong quick returns to cricket, having played just one game for Newtown & Chilwell’s sixths in February of last season.
“I’ve missed a season, so I’m not long out of the game,” Carson said.
“By the time I was finished, the body was looking for a rest and 12 months can make a lot of difference.
“I’m refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to go again. I don’t know a lot about the Bellarine, I’ve never been involved in it, but it’s a new era for the club and hopefully I can hit the ground running and enjoy cricket.”
A champion at the Cats, Carson has not played on hard-wicket since he was 14 at Stoneyford in Colac cricket.
And it has been 22 years since he bowled with a twopiece ball.
“It will certainly hurt when I get back into it fully, but nothing the body won’t get used to after a couple of sessions,” he said.
“I’m confident I’ll get through the season with no worries at all and hopefully we’ll win a few games along the way.
“There’s a itch. I’ve won a second XI premiership but never a first XI premiership. Winning a premiership is what we play for.”
Schroeter revealed he and Carson crossed paths during a night out at Little Creatures, where the president floated the idea of the speedster crossing to Eastern Reserve.
“The night it happened, I didn’t know how serious to take it,” Carson said.
“The following day it became a lot more formal and a lot more serious. We caught up on the Monday and had a chat for 45 minutes at the Waurn Ponds Hotel.
“My work doesn’t allow the commitment that I had down at Newtown or Geelong, so provided work could fit in with cricket, it seemed really good.
“I was certainly open to it. I sat on it for a week, spoke to my family and I thought if I don’t play now I never will.”
Evans revealed he would pour his energies into creating a strong culture, while building on the success of last season.
“For me as a coach, I’m not just going to focus on one set, I will focus on all three grades. Going into a new competition, you’ve got your eyes closed,” he said.
“I was involved in the Bellarine a long time ago but it’s a lot stronger now. So we will focus on improving on last year and if we can improve one or 2 per cent, we’ll go a long way.
“We’d like to go into games where they (opposition) fear us. We want to be noticed this year.”