Vikings prepared to step up

ALEXANDER Thomson captain Jay Dunstan has declared his team capable of making the leap to Division 2 after securing the GCA3 premiership.

Clinching the minor premiership by one point over Newcomb & District and subsequently winning the flag in a cancelled season, Dunstan believes the Vikings should bite the bullet and move into GCA2 if offered the choice.

“I think we are (ready),”

Dunstan said.

“There’s some good sides in Division 2 and we’ve got some young kids coming through, but I think we are ready. Look, it’s going to be a lot of hard work in Division 2 especially, but I think we can do it.

“Of course it’s a big step up. There’s a lot of good cricketers getting around in Division 2, so you need to bring your Agame otherwise you will get shown exactly how it is.”

Alexander Thomson officials will weigh up whether to spend another season building its talented crop of younger players in GCA3, or return to the second tier and find the going a little tough.

But Dunstan is in no doubt what decision he would make if the GCA came knocking.

“I reckon we should take the jump, 100 per cent,” Dunstan said. “You want to play the highest level of cricket you can, and by going up a division, you might be able to bring those one or two big names across as well. So if they gave us the opportunity, I don’t see why we wouldn’t take it.

“At the start of the season, we were playing to try and get up to Division 2. Trying to play the highest grade possible is the aim, but that’s for them (GCA) to decide, but winning the club championship last year definitely helps.”

Should the Vikings earn promotion, Dunstan admitted his side would need to bolster its fast-bowling stocks.

“If you could get a new batsman you would never say no to that, but a strike bowler is what we lacked this year,” he said.

“Jack (Clapham) is relatively sharp, but if we had a key quick bowler it would help us structure-wise as well.”