CARRICKFERGUS
- Captain: CJ van der Walt
- Overseas professional: Atish Varape
- Players in: none
- Players out: none
Carrick stormed all before them to clinch Section One with an exciting brand of attacking cricket, but the Middle Road club took the decision to maintain their status quo in the second tier. This will give their side another year to build up their experience before being catapulted into the relentless, cut-throat beast that is the NCU Premiership.
It's been a quiet close season for Carrick, who have brought back the ever-consistent run machine that is Atish Varape.
CJ van der Walt has also been trusted once again with the captain's armband, and he is looking forward to another successful campaign.
"We are all looking forward to another season and hope we can repeat the performance we had the last season," said Van Der Walt. "A few of our young boys worked hard over the winter period with the NCU program and we are hoping to see the fruits of that in their performances this season.
"We've also had a good winter indoor sessions this last few months since the end of last year and we are hoping we can take that all outside soon once the weather wants to play its part, so we are all really looking forward kicking off the 2026 season at the start of May.
"I will be captain again this year and hope I can carry on that positive mindset we had last season and back the boys to believe that we can hopefully do it again this year.
"I would like for us to compete in all formats and rectify the few mistakes we made last year in all competitions."
You wouldn't bet against Carrick being the dominant force in the Section once again in 2026.
