COLERAINE

Captain: Rory Knox
Players in: Louren Steenkamp (pro), David Cooke
Players out: Cephas Zhuwao, Lee Ritchie

Coleraine flirted with the relegation zone last season but have strengthened their batting considerably with the recruitment of South African professional Louren Steenkamp and former Irish international David Cooke.

Steenkamp has previous UK experience and if he can anywhere near his haul of 1219 runs for Bradford and Bingley last year in Yorkshire then the Bannsiders will be more than a match for anyone.

Lee Ritchie has returned to Eglinton, while Cephas Zhuwao is replaced as overseas pro by the aforementioned Steenkamp.

There are few better batters in local cricket than Marcus Poskitt who played some of the most eye-catching innings of 2024, but his new business venture may limit his appearances at Sandel Lodge. It's a pity because he certainly has talent in spades.

The affable Rory Knox has been entrusted with reviving Coleraine's fortunes, and he's very much looking forward to the new challenge ahead of the campaign.

“We’re excited by the last minute addition of Louren Steenkamp as our overseas professional after our original signing Keenan Viera suffered a head injury while playing domestic cricket in South Africa," said Knox. "Everyone at Coleraine wishes Keenan the very best in his recovery and hopefully one day we will get to welcome him to Sandal Lodge.

“The results show that we haven’t performed well enough over the last few years and the new season combined with the move back to 50 overs is a great opportunity for us to improve across all facets of the game. 

“There’s significant talent at the club and there will be lots of opportunities for the likes of Matthew Hutchinson, Patrick Carson and James Bell.

“We have plenty of experience with Craig Averill a key player for us with bat and ball, Scott Campbell, Matthew Smyth and Gareth Burns are all top cricketers and Davy Cooke will add plenty of insights and quality as a player-coach."

You get the feeling that if Knox and his charges can hit the ground running there may be a bit of silverware heading their way, with a cup run a real possibility.