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Teen Billy a star tip
Academy cricketer aiming to make mark
for County
ACADEMY star Billy Godleman (pictured) is hoping to help
Middlesex County Cricket Club’s new-look squad mount a
serious challenge for the championship title.
The season starts this weekend and the 17-year-old, who started
his career after watching his father play for Hampstead Cricket
Club, has been promoted to the first team squad after impressive
performances at the Middlesex Academy in Finchley.
MCC finished sixth in the county championship last season and
were second in Division One of the one-day league.
Chris Silverwood, Johann Louw and Mohammed Ali have been drafted
in to boost the squad this season and Director of Cricket and
Head Coach John Emburey says he is “looking forward to
an exciting future”. Left-handed opening batsman Godleman,
who picked up a bat at the age of 10, could well be a part of
that.
Emburey said: “He’s got a great temperament, a good
attitude, works very hard at his game.
“He performed very well in second team cricket last year
(as the club’s top scorer with 716 runs in six games) he’s
someone who when he gets in is a little bugger to get out.”
Former Islington Green School pupil Godleman told the New Journal
that playing alongside players he used to cheer on from the
stands was “a dream come true”.
And he added: “We’re a club that wants to win trophies
and we’ve definitely got the players to do so, we’re
very positive.”
This season Middlesex will combine the youth of their academy
graduates with the experience of three current internationals.
Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah are back from England’s tour
of India to add weight to the top order and New Zealand all-rounder
Scott Styris is back for a second season.
Louw and Ali have bolstered the bowling attack and the arrival
of Silverwood should add extra aggression.
Silverwood said: “I believe I’ve come into what will
be a very successful side.
“We’ve made a concerted effort to strengthen the bowling
and now there are no excuses we have the bowling attack to take
the 20 wickets in a match to win games.”
Middlesex get underway against Gloucestershire in Bristol on
Saturday, in the first match of the Cheltenham and Gloucester
Trophy and are in action at Lord’s from Wednesday April
26 against Kent in the Liverpool Victoria County Championship. |
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