Cricket club gives vote of confidence to its officials

On the playing front, Simon McDowell was reappointed 1st XI captain for a third successive season and will be hoping that his experienced squad will again ensure that Premier League cricket remains at Eaton Park.

Last season’s 2nd XI captain David Thompson has just accepted the offer of a new employment opportunity in Barcelona , so he has had to step down.

This is a vital role in a club where the ethos is on developing young players to senior level, so the club will be hoping to appoint a new 2nd XI captain in the near future.

The 3rd XI will be captained again by Antony Fraser, who did a fine job in his first season in the role.

The 4th XI had a tough time in 2012, mostly due to player-availability problems, but the club is hopeful that, with Colin McClean agreeing to continue as captain, things will improve in 2013.

The only major change on the administrative side is that Stewart Watt is stepping down as Treasurer, due to other commitments. Clive Jackson remains as Chairman and Carson McCullough again takes on the Secretary’s role.

Cricketing interest over the next few weeks will be focused on the draws for next season’s various cup competitions.

Ballymena 1st XI have had a thoroughly miserable time in cup competitions over the last decade, although they certainly have not been helped by a succession of extremely tough early round draws.

Hopefully the team is due favourable draws in both the Ulster Bank Senior Cup and the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup.