WOODFORD coach John Houston believes the return of key players will strengthen the Eels’ charge into the second half of the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association division one season.
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The recent returns of Kory Howlett and Hank Schlaghecke to the Eels’ first XI has given Houston an optimistic feeling ahead of the game on Saturday and for the rest of the season.
“The players we have coming back into the side will strengthen us up,” he said.
“They provide us with some quality and experience which will allow us to continue to get better, as we weren't happy with the way we played at the start of the year, we dropped games we should have won but didn't.
“Now If we get ourselves in a position where we need to lift, we know we have the personal around us to do that.”
For the Eels’ two-dayer against Merrivale, Houston wants all aspects Woodford’s game to be harassing the Tigers.
“We need to make sure we apply a lot of pressure with the ball and in the field and then with our batting we need to play to our strengths,” he said.
“Merrivale has been a very good side this year. They have improved a lot since last season.
“We need to focus our energy on the areas we can control to swing the game our way and hopefully from that we can get a positive result on Saturday.”
Houston highlighted that his side had shifted its attention away from just one or two opposition players onto the whole team.
“If we focus on just one of the oppositions players we run the risk of switching off on another player that could be flying under the radar,” he said.
“We tend to now concentrate our focus on every single batsman and bowler.
“Its now more about constructing game plans for us and executing them for the full 160 overs. We think our game plan can stand up for all 160 overs.”