City United skipper Matt Trappel is excited about the return of younger brother Josh to the Maitland competition after his success-laden time with Hamilton-Wickham in the Newcastle competition.
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Matt said it would be great to play with his younger brother again but he was equally excited about the role Josh would play in the development of the team’s younger players.
“He really only made his mind up late last week. It certainly boosts our chances of competing for this year’s premiership,” Matt said.
“The thing I’m really pleased about is that it is for the right reasons. He has an enormous amount to give to not only our club but the competition in general.
“I’m really looking forward to it as the last time we played together, apart from the Hunter Hitmen, was back at Hamwicks.
“His batting adds so much to our team and he is a very good bowler as well.
“Our bowling stocks are strong, but we were susceptible in our batting and Josh adds so much to that.
“He also is a great fielder and I can see our youngsters coming through such as Jock Vivers, Cameron Wynn and Sam Jordan and young Ben Crebert benefittng from having him around to help with their development."
City, who made last year’s finals after winning the 2016-17 premierships, was one of the few clubs set to take a largely unchanged line-up into 2018-19 and go from a probable top-four team to a premiership contender.
Josh said it was a tough decision to leave Hamwicks after joining the club in 2010-11 and leading it for the past six seasons in which they made the finals each season and won one of four grand finals.
They also won three one-day premierships and two T20 crowns and featured in consecutive SCG Country Cup finals, tasting victory in the 2013-14 decider.
“I’d always wanted to play at Hamwicks, not only because of the club but because of the mateship there. But I needed to take a step back,” Josh said of his decision to return to his junior club.
“Just with work and I’d lost the drive a bit. It felt like going home was the right thing to do. Not at all [will I close the door on coming back]. I’ll still be involved at Hamwicks and even captain the T20 stuff this year.”
Josh carries the remainder of a five-match suspension from last season in Newcastle and is expected to be available for City against Maitland district newcomers Port Stephens at Robins Oval on October 20.
His suspension was handed down for “bringing the game into disrepute” after a run-in with umpires on T20 finals day in February.
He was banned for three fixtures, but his stint on the sidelines was extended because of carry-over points from an incident in 2015-16. The judiciary also gave him a two-match punishment in 2016-17.
Matt said it was a great sign that players were coming back to the Maitland competition as well as moving on to other more senior competitions.
“We’ve had guys like Luke Stewart, Jayden Park and Aaron Mahony return in recent years and they have brought so much to the standard of the cricket not only playing but helping in the development of younger players,” he said.