NETHERFIELD captain Marc Brown believes his wicketkeeper and batsman John Huck could make the grade if he was called up to the pro levels following two fantastic performances over the weekend.
On Saturday he was unbeaten on 59 off 43 balls in the comfortable eight-wicket win over leaders Barrow, which was the visitors first defeat of the league season.
And he followed that up with a critical knock of 78 in the Readers Cup against Darwen on Sunday as Field picked up a 78-run win.
“John is obviously in really good form and in my opinion he is the best amateur batter in the league by a long way,” said Brown.
“He should be playing at a higher level and I think he’s got the talent to make it professionally.”
Meanwhile, Field and Kendal do battle in the Twenty20 Cup on Friday night at Parkside Road knowing that whichever team wins will be firmly in the driving seat to host the money-spinning Twenty20 Finals day on Sunday, July 7.
Both Brown and Kendal skipper Chris Miller said they were eagerly awaiting the derby evening.
Brown said: “Friday is a huge game and we’re very confident against Kendal - we have a strong team out for the game.”
Miller was in a similarly ebullient mood, saying: “It’s a massive weekend for us and the derby games are always big ones - it’s always nice to get one over Netherfield.”
Friday night’s match sparks the beginning of another busy weekend for the Shap Road side, with Kendal entertaining Morecambe in the league on Saturday.
On Sunday Kendal are at home to Ormskirk in the area final of the National Knock-out cup, and Miller hopes his side can replicate their fantastic success over Lytham in the previous round.
“It’s a big game on Sunday,” said Miller.
“Ormskirk are a good side with three or four players involved with Lancashire. It’s a big challenge but hopefully we can step up and then we have a nice away trip to Nottingham in the next round!”
Wicketkeeper Gary Baker will miss the next six weeks for Kendal as he is in New Zealand, so Shane Hyland will take over duties behind the wicket.
Kendal
1st XI v Netherfield (away) Friday (T20): C Miller (cap), S Hyland (wk), T Hunte, R Nelson, D Moore, D Braithwaite, A Cowperthwaite, N Lewthwaite, S Parkin, J White, Price
1st XI v Morecambe (home) Saturday: C Miller (cap), S Hyland (wk), T Hunte, R Nelson, D Moore, D Braithwaite, A Cowperthwaite, N Lewthwaite, S Parkin, J White, Price
1st XI v Ormskirk (home) Sunday (National Knock-out): C Miller (cap), S Hyland (wk), T Hunte, R Nelson, S Parkin, D Braithwaite, P Dodds, D Nightingale, S Dyson, R Herron, M Dugdale
Netherfield
1st XI v Kendal (home) Friday (T20): M Brown (cap), J Huck (wk), B Barrow, B Earl, B Herron, G Hall, N Chambers, S Dixon, C Parry, S Clement, Ackermann
1st XI v Preston (away) Saturday: M Brown (cap), J Huck (wk), B Barrow, B Earl, B Herron, G Hall, N Chambers, S Dixon, C Parry, S Clement, Ackermann
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