Local cricket: Hightown St Mary's skipper excited to see what new generation can do

A new generation of cricketers is coming through at Hightown St Mary’s - and captain Leo McCarthy couldn’t be more excited.

The Second Division side has a bumper crop of talented teenagers, some of whom are ready to make the leap into 1st XI cricket this year.

Among them is Tatenda Taibu Jr, son of the former Zimbabwe captain, who himself has left the club to take up a coaching role in Bangladesh.

But with a new overseas player and a returning all-rounder, McCarthy is optimistic for what 2022 can bring.

“Hightown has never been flush with huge numbers,” said the skipper. “So being able to nurture young players through all the way has always been hugely important to us.

“A lot of our stalwart first-teamers over the years have come through the junior section, but the last players to do that were probably myself and Matty Laybourne - and we’re both cracking on 25 now, so there’s kind of a big gap.

“The amount of work that’s gone in over the last five years is now bridging that gap, and we’ve got some really promising youngsters coming through.

“The U15s age group looks really strong, so hopefully in the next couple of years we’ll see some of them coming through as well.”

The roster this year will be boosted by Sanjika Ridma, a former U19 international from Sri Lanka who bowls left-arm spin and has two first-class centuries to his name; and Adil Zeb, back at the club for the first time since 2018.

McCarthy added: “Division Two last year was really competitive, top to bottom. There’s not many teams that stand head and shoulders above, but also there’s not many weak teams.

“Every single game is a winnable game.

“We definitely want to be competing at the top and pushing for promotion - whether we get there or not is a