Waddington signs for Stratford as overseas player

STRATFORD have signed Declan Waddington as their overseas player for 2018.

The promising wicketkeeper-batsman joins from Tasmanian Premier League club Lindisfarne and replaces Chris Calcott, who has signed for Leamington.

Stratford have also signed two bowlers in a bid to fill the void of outgoing skipper Mike Brown with the additions of Simon Plant and Ryan Theron.

Plant is an experienced left-arm spinner with Staffordshire League Premier Division experience, while Theron is a young left arm seamer, who is on the Worcestershire Young Cricketers’ Programme.

“I think we’ve been quite smart with our recruitment,” said new Panthers skipper, Chris Whelan.

“Declan has been playing Premier League cricket in Tasmania and we think we’ve recruited a very talented young cricketer, who is a replacement for Chris Calcott and will bring much more to the table in terms of run scoring for us which is something we’ve not had in previous seasons.

“Simon has played a lot of Premier League cricket in Staffordshire and we’ve been crying out for a left-arm spinner for years who can bring control and take wickets, he’ll have a big role to play for us. We’ve also brought in Ryan Theron, who I think is an extremely exciting prospect.”

The exit of Brown is no doubt the biggest loss for Stratford, but Whelan feels the club is in a stronger position than in 2017.

He added: “The club had become a little stale and needs freshening up both on and off the field.

“Browno is going to be a miss for us, but we’ve recruited two first-team bowlers to replace him and on paper we are stronger than last season in the bowling department.

“I think if we play like we did at the back end of last season, with a stronger side this time around, then we’ll do very well.”