Delatite’s Toy soldiers keen for cricket season

Cricket DELATITE paceman Lincoln Toy will lead the A grade squad in the upcoming 2023/24 Wangaratta and District Cricket Association season, which commenced this weekend. A relative newcomer to the region and the league, Toy played just four A grade matches for Delatite in the back end of last season after joining from Red Hill CC in the Mornington Peninsula Cricket Association. Toy said he felt at home with Delatite, and the entire squad was eager to begin the season. “The focus has been on preparation, being prepared for round one and for the rounds following,” he said. “As the batters keep telling us, they’ve never hit this many balls in their lives before round one. “We started probably five weeks ago, so we’ve had a really good build up into round one, and here comes the rain. “We’ve been hitting as many balls as we can, bowling as many balls as we can, catching as many balls as we can – the more prepared we are for the season, I think, the better. “We had a bit of a tough year last year which everyone knows, but we’ve got a few people back on this year and rallied the troops, and we need a game to know where we’re at. “Internally, we feel like we’re a much more improved side.” With new and returning players, plus the benefit of preparation on their side, Delatite are poised to shake up the A grade competition, with Toy eager to prove his leadership capabilities. “The captaincy came about at the end of last year, I think they were in a bit of a transition period, with the older crew stepping aside and letting someone younger do it, but there was a bit of an age gap so that’s where I fit in at 29 as the person to lead us from here,” he said. “We’ve got Nick (Bogar) who’s jumped on board from Ferntree Gully Footballers CC - he’s building a house in Bonnie Doon and walked in off the street and we got lucky. “He’s a top order batter who seems like he can whack them around, and he bowls some handy mediums as well. “We’ve got a fair few spinners, so it might be spin to win.” Delatite’s first outing – and Toy’s fifth match in the WDCA – will be against the Benalla Bushrangers at the Benalla Gardens Oval.