Players see Red
It appears competetive spirit has reared its ugly head at CW Red, as competition for spots in the starting XI intensify in these early stages of season XI. CW Red made some cotroversial trades before the seasons start, with batting stalwart James Stedman and team lap dog Jamee Gray being traded away for CW Black's David Kearsley and U-19 cricketer Matthew Luff, with the decisions not pleasing everyone.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not too pleased with how things have turned out," said Kenny Dobson, a CW Red non-starter. "I mean, having Kearsley on board is absolutely fabulous, hes a great bat, but I miss James you know. We actually had something special, me and him, and its quite aggravating to see some youngster come in and take James' seat and locker in the dress sheds. My memories I have of me and James, together, leaning against his locker, clamering on his seat, have now been tainted."
Tempers have also been flaring at training, as new and old members of the side struggle to out perform each other in order to impress captain Watt and his leadership coterie. Scenes of quiet, snide abuse and clear displays of impatience were intensified this week, particularly when Rob Dauth decided to charge in off the long run up at the nets, and deliver the ball from halfway down the pitch, overstepping by about ten meters and delivering some nasty blows in the process.
"Basically the guys need to cool off a little bit, and have some patience," stressed Sean Bennett from his caravan set up outside the CW Red training ground, his in-season home. "I mean at the end of the day, we only have eleven spots, and our top 6 all have some international experience. Added to the fact that we have won our first two games, its pretty hard to leave someone out for any of the newer players, or even male-model Kenny Dobson, but really, we only keep him around at the club to help out with net bowling and to give us something nice to look at."
However, it's clear to this reporter, that despite Reds impressive start to the season, they may well need to sort out some off-field issues in order to ensure their continuing sucesses.
Roger Googilopolis