Peters eyeing top-four push

OUTSTANDING TALENT: Austerlands’ CJ Ferreira.

CRICKET: REFRESHED after a two-week break, Austerlands’ minds are switched on to their sole remaining objective for the season — a top-four finish.

With Tanner Cup and Twenty20 hopes having both evaporated at the quarter-finals, the focus for Mark Peters’ men is league points, and lots of them.

To be among the leading four teams come season’s end on September 20 would guarantee a ticket for the new Pennine League’s top flight in 2016.

Austerlands are in there, fighting hard, but are not alone. They are one of half a dozen sides in the SDCL seemingly capable of filling one of the prized spots.

They face a trip to Stayley tomorrow. The enigmatic Millbrook outfit was good against title challengers Saddleworth, but was also awful in being shot out for 40 by Whalley Range recently.

“The break came at a good time,” said skipper Peters. “Mohammed Irfan has been struggling with a groin problem and he’s had a good rest, while some of the lads went away to play golf or spend time with their families. It means they are now raring to go again.

“There have been hiccups recently — the last-over defeat against Greenfield in the T20 and the disappointing Tanner Cup loss at Micklehurst — but they’re in the past. There is no point in dwelling on them. We’ve got to look forward to the games coming up.”

Left-arm seamer Irfan, so impressive in the early weeks of the season, has been restricted to bowling four or five-over bursts because of injury. With batteries recharged, he is sure to be a big player for Austerlands in the second half of the campaign, along with overseas amateur CJ Ferreira and professional Asif Zakir.

“CJ is an outstanding talent and is a massive asset,” added Peters, who hopes to have the South African back in the fold next year.

twitter: @kevrichardsonOC