Oct. 4, 2014
NESTLES is confident it will have former captain Cam Williams at its disposal for the 2014-15 Warrnambool and District Cricket Association season.

The wicketkeeper-batsman looms as one of two major recruits at Reid Oval, having spent last season with Victorian Premier Cricket club Essendon. Andre Barr also returns after playing only a handful of matches last season.

Matt Williams, who has joined Wangoom, is the only omission.

Eldridge said the return of Williams was a coup, with Nestles chasing a finals berth in Hopkins conference.

He believed Williams would play with Essendon this weekend but would return for the WDCA season opener against Merrivale at Harris Street Reserve.

“At this stage indications are after this week he’s going to come back to Nestles, which is great for us,” Eldridge said.

“When Cam was here last, he was captain of the club.

“The fact he’s travelled (to play with Essendon) and had leadership roles (at Nestles), he’s more mature now than what he was when he was last here.

“I think he’s going to be improved for the experiences. With the young group, he can teach them a lot about cricket. He’s seen it from all facets.”

Eldridge said there was much positivity at Nestles for the season.

The Factory will field two under 17 sides, to go with 15s, 13s and 11s, with its junior ranks “a lot stronger than what they’ve been in the past”.

“As far as the senior side goes, the division two side playing finals last year with a young group was a positive for us,” Eldridge said.

“We’ll use them as a feeder for the division one side moving forward.

“For us, it wasn’t so much about recruiting quality because that’s coming through. It was about shoring up the club as far as depth goes.”

Eldridge is confident a top-two finish is within Nestles’ reach. They finished fifth in the Merri conference last season.

Their Hopkins conference rivals this time around include Dennington, Merrivale, Brierly-Christ Church, Allansford and Nirranda.

“We’re certainly in a fairly tight conference but we think we can be up in the top two,” Eldridge said.

“Especially with the format change. We had five wins and one loss in Twenty20 last year. We’ve traditionally been a really good Twenty20 side.”