Colney captain looking to get back to basics

CRICKET: NEWLY appointed London Colney captain Graham Seymour believes the club needs to focus on getting back to basics.

The village side just avoided relegation from Saracens Herts League Division Three last season and despite no major changes to the playing squad during the off season Seymour believes there is enough talent there to be involved at the other end of the table; if the players are willing to put the work in.

“I returned to Colney last season and while it was not the greatest of seasons it was still enjoyable,” Seymour explained to the Herts Advertiser.

“All the ingredients are there; we just need a little more commitment and effort from certain people.

“We’re trying to get back to basics. I was at North Mymms in the 90s and there it was all about the basics; we practiced during the week and played at the weekend but here sometimes we forget to do the practice.

“We’re going to get a friend of the club Ian Prior, who is an ECB coach who works at the Redbourn Indoor Cricket Centre, to come in and get everyone working on their game. They say the more you put in the more you get out.”

The new skipper admits the first team squad has lacked stability in recent years and says the aim is to get a core of around 18 players from which to choose.

“We’ve got an aging squad and as you get older you get more family and work commitments,” he added.

“We’ve got a couple of fireman and we’ve got a couple of policeman and although they want to play every week they’re on shift work which means they can’t.

“That means it’s a juggling act and it is important we get a squad of 16 or 18 players which we haven’t had in recent seasons. Last season it was more like 12 or 14 which meant sometimes we had to call in players from the other teams which may have weakened the side.”

Seymour believes promotion can be a realistic target for Colney this summer but admits a lot of work needs to be done to achieve that goal.

The club is currently in the process of recruiting new players and the new skipper believes those additions combined with the talent already at the club can really help to push it on.

“We like to set realistic targets and promotion is certainly realistic,” explained Seymour.

“However last season we only just avoided relegation and we have got a lot of work to do before we can say we are serious contenders.

“In certain games last season, like at Chipperfield, I certainly saw enough talent there.

“We’re certainly talking to one or two players. We’re talking to a guy over in Australia who wants to come over and play cricket and who is going to fund himself.

“We’ve also made contact with a young lad who is moving into the village in May from Devon. He has been playing first team cricket since the age of 18 so we’re looking forward to meeting him and having a chat.”

Saracens Division Three will certainly have a local feel to it with Colney coming up against Old Albanians, Harpenden II and Wheathampstead and Seymour says he is excited by the prospect of those occasions.

“We’re very much looking forward to those,” he said. “We’ve got friends at all of those and we’ll be looking to get one over them.”