John swaps pads for paddles in bid for rowing record
Last updated 19:38, Thursday, 17 April 2008
CARLISLE Cricket Club captain John Davies will swap his bat for a rowing machine tomorrow as he attempts to land a place in the record books.
The South African-born batsman will be part of a ten-person team which will row 100km on an indoor rowing machine, aiming to break a five-year-old world record of 4hr 48min 13sec.
It means he will be a key absentee for Carlisle’s opening North Lancashire Premier League fixture against Furness at Edenside.
Carlisle are further depleted by the absence of fellow batsman Graeme Ion and new signing from Millom Glenn Clark, while their professional Usman Saeed will not return from Pakistan until next month.
Davies, who represented South Africa under-23s in indoor cricket, is in his third full season as Carlisle captain and has high hopes for the coming season after they secured a top-six finish last year.
The club has been strengthened by its merger with Denton Holme Cricket club and Carlisle now boasts four senior sides with more than 70 players registered as well as a promising junior section with over 200 youngsters on the books and five teams from under-11s to under-15s.
He said: “Ideally if we can finish in the top four and win a cup we will be happy. We have a good Higson Cup draw as the first three rounds are all at home.
“The merger with Denton Holme should strengthen the second and third team.
“We have also signed medium quick bowler Craig Foxtrot from the Newcastle League and when you think of the addition of Denton Holme we should be much stronger.”
