There is a changing of the guard at Nagambie Cricket Club for the upcoming 2024-25 Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield season.
Top-order batter Zac Winter-Irving is taking the coaching reins from club legend Mark Nolan for next season; while Nolan is stepping aside from the role, the talented all-rounder will still play a crucial part in the Lakers’ finals aspirations as a player.
After six years with Nolan at the helm, Winter-Irving was chosen to take control of the talented Nagambie side.
Winter-Irving said that while he knew the season was still a few months away, he was keen to get cracking.
“I know it is only early, but I am very excited to get things rolling,” he said.
“It is a privilege to do this role.
“I want to make it (the club) a really good place to be so that everyone can come and enjoy their love of cricket.
“A very open space for everyone to come and play; juniors and women are a big part of our club as well as the higher senior levels.”
In last season’s first week of finals, Nagambie fell agonisingly short to ladder leader Waaia.
After the Lakers posted a low first innings total of 131, Nagambie seemed out of the contest.
However, some tight bowling from Winter-Irving’s brother Mitch (5-31) and Nolan (3-56) brought the side within a whisker of causing a major upset — Waaia eventually won the match by one wicket by scoring 9-132.
Winter-Irving said his side hoped to go a couple of steps further next season.
“Definitely have expectations (on performance) given the last couple years and where we have been at, we will definitely look to retain our players and hopefully inject a bit more depth,” he said.
“Over the next couple of weeks, I think we should have a few re-signings and, hopefully, a few new signings as well.”
The new Lakers coach was full of praise for his predecessor Nolan, with Winter-Irving excited that his gun all-rounder will now be able to focus solely on his performance rather than juggling everything that comes with being captain-coach.
“Mark has done it the last six years, I think it is, and hats off to him for being a coach, a player and a captain as well; it’s a massive effort for six years,” he said.
“His contribution to the club and the community is massive and we are all very grateful for that and Mark will definitely still be around as a player.
“I am pretty excited to see what he is going to bring because we all know how good he is.
“With a bit more free time on his hands, I am very confident he will have a great season ahead.”
In other Haisman Shield news, Numurkah has made another important signing for the upcoming 2024-25 season.
After welcoming all-rounder Ragu Aravinthan back to the club last week, the Blues made another key signing, this time top-order batter Ben Beaumont from the United Kingdom.
Beaumont has experience playing at the National Counties level — effectively a tier below first-class cricket — and played for Barooga in the Murray Valley League last season.
The talented top-order batter and crafty leg-spin bowler played three games for Numurkah during the Higher-grade T20 competition over the summer, with his best performance coming against Kyabram when Beaumont smoked 42 runs off 27 balls (including three sixes).
Numurkah’s new recruit was also effective with ball in hand, taking four wickets during the his time in the Higher-grade competition.