It will be business as usual when Mortlake takes to the field on Saturday, January 6 in the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association division one competition despite a change in coaching structure for the remainder of the season.
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Playing coach Lachlan Wareham has departed the club to move north for work opportunities, with assistant coach Steve Blacker to take on the reins for the remainder of season 2023-24.
Champion all-rounder Todd Lamont remains as division one captain.
The Cats, who take on competition ladder-leaders Port Fairy in the first two-day fixtures in two years on January 6 and January 13, will look to remain in touching distance with the top-five and currently sit 10th on the table.
Blacker told The Standard the coaching philosophy wouldn't change as the group gears up for two-day cricket.
"Nothing really changes from our perspective. It's been on the radar for Lachie for maybe six or seven weeks," he said.
"We were maybe hoping to have him for a game after Christmas but that's come up a fraction quicker. You can't begrudge young blokes going out and having a look at the world so it is what it is.
"But there's no change in our philosophy from the coaching side of things."
Blacker confirmed alongside Wareham, Will Kain was heading overseas and Henry Smith was relocating to Toowoomba and believed it would provide talented kids with opportunities at division one level for the remainder of the season.
"We've lost three division one players so from that perspective it's probably not ideal," he said.
"It's got nothing to do with the club itself, it's just guys that are going out and doing their own thing.
"We're a club in a bit of transition in comparison to those really good Mortlake sides from five, 10 years ago so we've been left with a few stalwarts from there.
"Our kids are talented and we're trying to ease them into (division one) cricket. I did a bit of a survey the other night, because there hasn't been too much two-day cricket played for quite a long time, to see who had played it and didn't get many hand raises.
"It'll be a good experience and a bit of a challenge, we need to ease these kids into two-day cricket. There's talent in the seconds so we see it as a bit of an opportunity to rotate some kids through and give them a bit of experience."
Nick Creely
Sports reporter with The Standard
Sports reporter with The Standard
