Bashley captain King hoping to be fit

Bashley (Rydal) paceman Matt King is monitoring the rib injury that kept him off the cricket pitch all of last summer and aiming to be match fit for the Division I club's first outing in the 2003 Southern Premier League next month.

King, the second highest wicket-taker in first team cricket for Bashley, will succeed Neil Taylor as skipper in 2003 if he is able to take the field.

Although Bash is scheduled to kick off its pre-season campaign this weekend with home games against Bournemouth and New Milton, it is possible that King may not play in any such friendlies, but instead concentrate wholly on ensuring that he is ready to take the field against Calmore Sports on May 3rd for the opening round of the league.

The veteran bowler had to sit out the entire 2002 season due to inflamed cartilage between his rib cage and his sternum, a complex problem which first flared 13 months ago after he had been playing golf.

Treatment of the injury finished at the end of February but as he was out of the country for most of March, on his honeymoon, the first time he linked up with his teammates at Bashley Road, for training, was only last week. However, on that occasion, he managed to bowl in the nets for an hour without any obvious repercussion - and he has since turned his arm over on two more occasions.

King is playing a game of patience as he endeavours to get himself ready for the start of the season proper, while being careful not to take things too fast and do himself further harm.

"I am monitoring how the chest reacts, but, so far, have only had the usual aches and pains resulting from a long period of inactivity," he said.

"I have netted three times in eight days and things have got easier with each session.

"I am looking to continue easing myself back into action via nets, with the focus on being available for the first league match of the season - but if all goes well I am hoping to play in at least one friendly beforehand."

He added: "I am looking forward to the challenge of captaincy and cannot wait to actually get on the pitch."

While Bashley's seam attack is sure to be more potent if it includes an injury-free King who is raring to go, the wicketkeeping duties this summer are likely to fall up on veteran Shaun Lilley in the absence of Western Australia's rising star Luke Ronchi - the 21-year-old Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy graduate who has played for Bash for three of the past four seasons but is unavailable this summer after making a flourishing start to his first-class career Down Under.

"Luke did not actually keep in all the league games last year, as his multi-talents had him bowling medium pace in a couple of matches, with Shaun taking over behind the stumps," explained King.

"Shaun was also the first team wicketkeeper the previous season, when Luke remained in Australia - and he has a wealth of Southern League experience, probably over 20 years."

Bashley's overseas player for 2003, as previously reported, will be spin bowling all-rounder Brad Thompson, a veteran A grade cricketer who was Ronchi's captain at Perth for three seasons before joining Willetton in 2002/03 as player and assistant coach.