DANNY BEAVER TO SUCCEED CHRIS BOURNE AT WALLASEY

Date: 9th December 2014

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

21 year old to be appointed this week

The pattern of fine young cricketers taking over the captaincy of their clubs will be continued on Thursday evening when 21-year-old Danny Beaver is appointed Wallasey’s first-team skipper in succession to Chris Bourne.

The handover could not be more cordial, nor could it have come at a better time for the club. Beaver is just one member of Wallasey’s very strong Under 21 side and he inherits a team which finished fifth in the ECB Premier League last season. No one is leaving the club and it looks like no one is joining either. The 2013 professional Lahiru Sri Lakmal Wellalege - they call him “Bala” on the Wirral – is returning next summer. The combination of stability and potential makes this a rather exciting time for Wallasey.

And there could therefore be no better moment for Bourne to step down. The Rosclare Drive loyalist will be 35 in April and his wife gave birth to a baby boy Ted in March. Everything about the change fits.

“After about two months of last summer I knew that 2014 would be my last season in charge,” said Bourne. “I will keep playing as long as I can and if it was just a question of turning up on a Saturday I’d be happy to stay as skipper. But it isn’t like that and Premier League cricket is rapidly turning into a young man’s game.”

Bourne takes his leave with Wallasey in a position of strength. He led them to fifth place in the Premier League last September, their best finish for nine years. He is reassured by his belief that the current side “will only get better.”

As for Beaver, he admits that skippering the Wirral side has always been an objective of his, even if he did not expect the opportunity to come quite as quickly as it has. His aim is to consolidate his side’s position among the élite in a Premier League that is looking more intriguing by the day. Even when leading a predominantly young team, Beaver will still be able to call on the experienced batting of Graham Reid, the all-round talents of Neil Cross and the quixotic legerdemain of Bourne

“Chris has made it easy to take over from him,” he said. “The club is in a good place and I wouldn’t expect too much change regarding personnel for next season. However, there are some good sides in the Premier League at the moment and it’ll be a tough task to push on. But one of my aims is to help young lads become big name players.”