Whitby Cricket Club snap up Aussie all-rounder Joel Lloyd

​The new recruit will be eager to make a flying start when the first team travel to Sedgefield in the Division One opener on Saturday April 15.

Whitby 1st XI skipper Kai Morris said: “We can’t wait to get started in a few weeks time.

"Managing to stay up last season was a good effort, and hopefully we can build on that this time out.

"All the younger lads are a year more experienced and we’ve also signed an overseas player in Joel Lloyd from Australian club Westbury, a club we have a longstanding relationship with.

"He’s a bowling all-rounder, who’ll hopefully give us that bit of extra firepower with the ball and compliment a batting line-up that’s been generally pretty reliable the last few years.

"From speaking with Joel and other people from Westbury I’m confident he’s gonna be a great asset for us and fit into the club really well.”

Morris is eager for his team to make a strong start to the season in what he feels will be a strong division yet again.

The captain added: "With Marton and Billingham coming down from the Premier Division, and looking that some of the signings that have been made by other clubs, it’s going to be another very strong division this year with a lot of clubs having more resources at their disposal than us but hopefully we can start strong and put some of the so called bigger clubs under pressure and see where we can get to.”

The first-team skipper is also confident of the club’s future, particularly with the prospects coming through the ranks in the second and third teams from the junior section.

Morris said: "I’m really optimistic about the second team’s chances this season as well under the captaincy of Andrew Wood.

"He’s proven in the past how effective he is at bringing younger players through and getting them to reach their potential and I can’t see that being any different this time around.

"The club is in a really good position, especially with the third team and junior sections continuing to go from strength to strength and we’re all looking forward to pushing on again this season.”