Buckie Cricket Club relishing prospect of return to Nosca senior league after five year break
A cricket club are relishing the chance to step back up to the senior league as this summer’s season fast approaches.
Buckie Cricket Club (BCC) took the reluctant decision to step down from the Nosca senior league in 2019, lifting not only the league title but both cups.
The club have, since then, played in the reserve league - with no small measure of success - but the aim always remained to reclaim their senior berth.
Now, thanks to a relaxation of the rules by Nosca, the club are now set to kick off the 2025 season against Elgin at home on May 4 at 2pm.
Captaining the side this season is club stalwart Jonny Corsie.
He said: “When Covid came we had a couple of seasons off and then we found we couldn’t fulfil our Saturday figures, basically because so many of the guys worked or had commitments on a Saturday.
“We did well in the reserve league - we won it last season - but getting back to the seniors was always our aim. As a club we’re very grateful to Nosca for allowing us to play our games on a Sunday. It took a couple of years, but they realised our situation and it's actually very good of them to accommodate us.
“It’s been four or five years so it’s a bit of a step into the unknown after such a long break. That said, we're really quite enthusiastic and really forward to it looking forward to it.
“Will we be in the mix for trophies? Well, obviously we want to win things but our first priority is to be able to fulfil all our fixtures, be competitive and grow the squad, that would be a great start.
“We're not sure at this moment of our playing personnel because we thought we did have a decent-sized squad but already we've got two injuries and we've got three guys away for a good part of the season. We’re keeping our fingers crossed we’ve got enough guys and maybe attract new players, too.”
Club president Eadie Walls said he was delighted that Buckie were returning to playing senior cricket before going on to stress that the club we keen to provide opportunities to play the sport at all levels.
He continued: “We’re trying to be forward thinking in terms of making our club more accessible.
“We’re open to ideas and if anyone has any suggestions we’d urge them to share those with us.
“For example, we’re keen to get a junior section up and running.
“Just in terms of people interested in the game, please make contact with us, come here to the pavilion, there's great facilities here and it's all free, essentially. Training starts at 6.30pm on a Wednesday but facilities potentially can be used at any time.
“Our door's open. If anyone wants to come along and watch, help, play or get involved we'd love to see them here.
“We’re also very fortunate to have great sponsors.
“As Jonny said, it’s just great to be back and hopefully we’ll be able to fulfil our fixtures and from from there.”
Walls added that the names and contact details of club officials are on a board outside the club pavilion at Linzee Gordon Park, should someone wish to get in touch.
Keep up to date with club news and other details at their Facebook page.
