OLD XAVS HAPPY TO CONTINUE IMPROVING

Date: 8th July 2014

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

Skipper Jamie Doyle in no rush.

Probably few skippers in the Med Imaging Liverpool Competition are as relaxed about the second half of the season as Old Xaverians skipper Jamie Doyle. He knows that he and his players will be in either the First or Second Divisions in 2015 and, frankly, that’s more or less enough for him.

Which is interesting given that Old Xavs have won half a dozen games this summer and lost only to leaders Prestatyn, a record that has helped them occupy third place in the Second Division and left them well positioned for a promotion challenge.

However, along with club chairman and factotum extraordinaire David Reynolds, Doyle understands that this is only Old Xaverians’ third season in the Competition and that the organic development of the club is more important than a September celebration.

“Plainly promotion is a realistic goal for us and we’re going to be near the top if we win another six games in the second half of the season,” he said. “But the fact is that we are simply in the business of winning as many games as we can.”

That business of winning long games of timed cricket has been something Old Xaverians have had to learn since they began playing in the Competition over two years’ ago.

“We’ve made steady progress but at first we found it difficult to adapt to playing longer games against tougher opposition,” admitted Doyle. “But gradually we’ve become more savvy and more knowledgeable about what is needed to win matches.

“As a consequence we’ve won a game on the last ball this season, we won another by one run and we’ve fought out some tough draws where necessary.”

Of course, it doesn’t harm when you can call on a match-winning all-rounder like Ian Carroll, whose 1030 league runs were one of the highlights of the 2013 season, but Doyle also stresses the importance of other players in what is a young and still developing first team.

“My brother Mark opens the bowling and often takes early wickets,” he said, “and we also have 19-year-old Josh Dilworth, who frequently scores important runs for us at the top of the order.”

But Doyle, who is one of three brothers in the team - there are also three Dilworths – also takes on board that his club’s admission to the Competition required the implementation of ground improvements and he’s happy that those are being put in in place, too.

“We’ve got better changing rooms and showers,” he said. “We’ve got covers, an electric scoreboard and better facilities for spectators. We also run five junior teams and then Dave Reynolds brings it all together and ensures that we have a pitch to play on.”