Ian Gillespie is looking forward to life as Bomere Heath’s new captain after wasting no time to complete his first signing at the helm of the Marston’s Shropshire Premier Cricket League club.
Gillespie, the former Shrewsbury and Shropshire allrounder, was named as Ian Day’s successor at Bomere’s AGM earlier this week and has moved quickly to bring experienced MCC man Andy McIlroy back to the village club.
He now hopes a couple more new recruits will follow as Bomere look to improve on last season which saw them only guarantee their place in the Premier on a tense final day of the season.
“Andy was one of the key players who helped us get back into the Premier League,” said Gillespie.
“He moved up north and is still involved with the MCC, captaining them sometimes, but he’s now moved back into the village and made it quite clear he will be available to play for us again. He’s also great for team spirit.”
Gillespie, 33, who topped Bomere’s batting and bowling averages last season, has high hopes some of the club’s young talent can provide solid foundations to next season’s line-up, pointing to the high hopes he has for the likes of Chris Stevens, Andy Flann, Matt Jones and Chris Edenborough.
“I’m keen to try and change things around a bit for next year,” said Gillespie. “I can’t wait. I’m going to try and rejuvenate our chances a bit and I’m after two or three new players. There are definitely players interested in joining and I’m quite excited about it.
“We want to try and enjoy our cricket, be a bit more prepared, have a bit more intensity and also maintain our team spirit.”
Gillespie is no stranger to the added responsibilities of captaincy as he’s the current skipper of the Shropshire men’s tennis side, although he stresses his new role will be in contrast to that.
“It’s completely different,” he said. “The tennis one is a 10-week job and with the cricket it’s more day to day in the summer.
“I actually quit cricket for about three years at one stage because I went into tennis coaching but I missed the game so much.”
Gillespie hopes Bomere can push for a mid-table spot next season and he has the good wishes of the man he replaces as skipper, Day, who opted to stand down after five years in charge.
“The job’s in safe hands,” said Day. “I truly believe Ian will move it forward, he’s tactically astute and I wish him every success.”
Bomere chairman Gordon Smith added: “He’s the ideal choice and he’s as good an allrounder as there is in this league.”
By Stuart Dunn
