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Cricket: Aussie pro Tim Buszard full of praise for Northop Hall

AN OPEN letter from Northop Hall’s Australian professional Tim Buszard to the club has revealed his deep admiration for the Flintshire outfit.

The Antipodean all-rounder was Northop Hall’s import player for 2011 and despite fighting a relegation battle from the Liverpool and District Competition Premier League – which Hall eventually lost – Buszard was full of praise for the club.

“I had a great time and will definitely recommend this club as a place to play cricket for aspiring cricketers back home,” he wrote.

“From the moment I agreed to play here the club have been nothing but supportive (in particular Tony Sparks and Wayne Smith) and I appreciate that dearly.

“Obviously it was disappointing that the 1st XI was relegated and I wish that I could have done more to help avoid that – however, with the talent coming through the club I am sure that the team will be back up to Premier League in no time.”

The 22-year-old, who took a break to play for Hall before embarking on a PhD in Melbourne, also helped out coaching the village club’s youth team last summer.

“I want to say that the organisation of the junior section lead by Wayne Smith, Paul Higginson and Kumar Kurukkal is fantastic,” he said.

“I enjoyed working with the kids and there are some very good players coming through there.

“I have no doubt that the senior teams will be rewarded by this in years to come.”

Northop Hall will start the 2012 league campaign at Smithy Lane against Orrell Red Triangle on Saturday, May 5.

They will be hoping to mount a strong challenge to go straight back up after spending three years in the top flight under previous captain Danny Nolan until the end of last season.

Hall have not yet named their new first-team captain but will be hoping he will be able to keep teenage batting sensation Michael Barnes firing to underpin their promotion hopes.

Mold were second in the North Wales League Fairplay League for the second successive year in 2011.

Umpires mark every club throughout the season and Mold were once more runners-up, behind Pwllheli.

The North Wales League season will begin on Saturday, April 21.

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