Knights Keep on pushing

HAVING not made finals the past two seasons Kingborough will be hoping the recruitment of talented batter Trent Keep can turn its fortunes around.

Keep will play his first game for the Knights in today’s opening round of the CTPL with Kingborough taking on Glenorchy in a one-day match at the Twin Ovals.

The elegant batsman said he moved to Kingborough from South Hobart-Sandy Bay, where he played for five seasons and was a part of the club’s first ever red-ball premiership, to progress his playing and coaching ability.

“It’s tough leaving a club like Sandy Bay, which I was very familiar with and comfortable at,” Keep (pictured right) said.

“It’s going to take a couple of seasons to see if it was worth it but hopefully the move will help me grow as not only a player and coach but also as a person.”

Keep has taken up the roles of captain and assistant coach to Clive Rose and he’s optimistic about the Knights returning to finals but is wary about today’s opponent.

“I think we’ll be competitive, I don’t think it’s any secret our ambition is to make the top four having missed out on the finals the last couple of seasons,” Keep said. “For their sake we don’t hope to see too much of Beau [Webster] and Gurinder [Sandhu], but when they play we are a very strong team.

“It’s hard to prepare for the unknown and Glenorchy have proven they can be hard to beat in the right circumstances.”

In the round’s other games, reigning premier Lindisfarne will take on New Town at Anzac Park, and Clarence hosts Greater Northern at Kangaroo Bay. University, South Hobart Sandy Bay and North Hobart all start the season with the bye.