Carnforth look for new pro
Ryan Bailey will leave Carnforth in a fortnight |
Carnforth CC are on the look-out for a new professional after revealing that Ryan Bailey will make a premature exit on 25 August to prepare for the forthcoming South African season.
Bailey, aged 25, has hit 890 league runs for the club at an average of 74 and captured 17 wickets at 32 with his off-spin.
Of his three centuries, his highest score was 162 not out at Netherfield- the highest score in the league this season.
He took 5 for 53 in Carnforth's win at Preston.
Bailey will bow out after playing in Carnforth's games against Preston (9 Aug) and Morecambe (23 Aug) and will miss the final four games of the season as he re-joins the Eagles in his homeland.
As a short term measure Carnforth hope to recruit the services of fellow South African Wayne Madsen for some of those games, his commitments at Central Lancashire League side Unsworth permitting.
Madsen deputised for Bailey in the opening two games of the season and was a highly respected figure at the club. He has enjoyed two prolific seasons with Unsworth.
Carnforth CC chairman Mark Holmes commented: "We are a very young club in Northern League terms having only joined in 2006 but we are growing up fast.
"We feel that we have some highly talented cricketers at the club who can only get better. To that end we intend that our next professional has the appropriate coaching qualifications and desire to involve himself in regular coaching sessions with senior and junior players and plays an active part in all aspects of the club throughout the week.
"Ryan looked set to re-write the club and league batting records at one stage, but his form has dipped in the last month from the very high standards he set himself. But he achieved what he set out to do and if he had stayed a full season would have surely hit his targets of 1,200 runs and 30 wickets. I am sure that in the years to come he will look back fondly on his time at Carnforth and the way he was treated by the club."
Ryan Bailey will leave Carnforth in a fortnight
Ryan Bailey on his way to a hundred at St Annes |
