Bournemouth selectors could be putting some long ‘round the table’ sessions in to sort the teams for the upcoming pre-season friendlies after e healthy crop of new faces appeared at the Hurn Bridge nets.
They could have as many as six potential new players vying for places for the Southern Premier League Division 1 opener against newly promoted OTs & Romsey at Chapel Gate on May 6.
Pre-season net sessions have been a real fillip with the appointment of new Director of Cricket Chris Park coinciding with the arrival of Ventnor all-rounder Henry Bartlett, former Hampstead cricketer Jon Lombard, and pace bowler Mitch Wilson, who has been sidelined for the past two seasons with back trouble.
They are joined by the previously announced arrivals of Dorset Under-17 duo Don Clutterbuck and Jamie Price, and promising Swanage leg spinner Jem Warner, who took an astonishing seven wickets for one run against the Isle of Wight in an ECB U17 county championship two summers ago. Mike Kitson, who has moved to Yorkshire, is the only departure.
Luke Germon, whose father Lee played 12 Tests and made 37 ODI appearances for New Zealand in the mid-1990s (also skippering the Black Caps), is Bournemouth’s overseas player. A leg spinner, he hails from Christchurch (NZ) and is among a growing number of Canterbury-based cricketers set to play locally this season. Luke is on a gap year at Bournemouth Collegiate School.
