Captain backs new-look Matlock and Cromford Meadows CC to be competitive

Matlock and Cromford merged during the winter and will be competing in Division Three North of the Derbyshire County Cricket League.

The move was brought about to help bolster playing numbers with Cromford one of a number of smaller teams struggling in the area.

And first-team captain Lander is confident that the cream of the crop from both clubs will create a strong playing unit.

“It is very exciting for us and we will be much more competitive with bringing the best players together,” he said.

“It gives us a really good split, We have got teams in Division Three, Six and Nine so it makes us much more competitive. It gives us more options and better players to pick from.”

They will play under different rules this year following the introduction of a new straight win or lose format.

It is a format change that Lander believes will lead to much more exciting cricket.

“It is going to be interesting,” he said. “We have had losing draws for all the time I have played cricket.

“It means there is a defensive angle on things with people just going out to survive the match.

“You get a few games that are dead games and it is not great for the game.

“Hopefully this year you will see teams be much more aggressive, people trying to win and more creative batting. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Lander believes it will also raise standards across the board with skill levels and variety forced to step up a notch.

“Before, If you are bowling first, you might have been negative from the start and thought about surviving and not being worried about how many runs the other team score,” added Lander.

“Now you have to think more about fielding positions and bowling options because you have to restrict the opponents to a target you feel you can get.

“When you come to bat it will be more tactical. You have to think about getting through the first few overs, but also getting runs on the board because you can’t get too far behind the run rate.

“We have to think about when we go for it, the pace of the innings and where we place batsmen.

“It will be more involved than before. It will put people under more pressure and that is very important at all levels of the game.

“I think it will develop skills more. As a bowler you will have to come up with ways of stopping people scoring runs.

“You will have to work on yorkers and variation. Variation in bowling is something we see on tv but it has not really made its way into league cricket.

“When you are batting you will have to score runs, you can’t defend if someone is bowling well and will have to come up with ways of attacking them and putting them off their game

“People will become more creative and develop a wider skillset.”