BEN Rowles said it will be a “massive honour” to captain the Camberwell First XI for the 2021/22 Victorian Premier Cricket season.
The former Mildura Settlers premiership player will lead a young Magpies side into the new season, having played 49 top flight games since arriving in the 2012/13 campaign.
The 28-year-old top order batsman has a career tally of 3750 runs at an average of 28.20, chalking up five club centuries (four in the Second XI) including a top score of 122 in the First XI against Melbourne in 2018/19.
That same year, he was awarded the John Birch Trophy as the club’s champion player, the First XI Batting Average, and Alan Barr Trophy for the highest senior aggregate run-scorer for the season.
“It’s (the captaincy) not something I was expecting or sought out but when I was approached about it I thought it was a massive honour as well as a challenge,” the talented left-hander said.
Rowles said while the focus will be on developing the club’s crop of young players, they won’t put a ceiling on what they can achieve in ‘21/22.
“I don’t see any reason why we can’t be competitive. Even just getting five or 10 percent improvement from our players will make a big difference,” he said.
Rowles admitted it had been a tough pre-season so far during another COVID lockdown.
“It’s not ideal to have two pre-seasons in a row affected by COVID but there’s not much you can do. It’s not like any team is getting a leg up on anyone else,” he said.
