Ribblesdale League: Maron the way!

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

29 April 1998


BLACKBURN Northern's new South African professional Ryan Maron may not have set the Ribblesdale League alight yet in his side's opening two games.

But the 23-year-old left arm batsman has confidently predicted fireworks when everything does click in to place.

Maron has every reason to be confident after dismantling the Lancashire bowling attack playing for the Western Province Invitation XI during the county's pre-season tour to South Africa.

He hammered an unbeaten 98 against messers Martin, Chapple and company despite his side losing the match.

And it is that kind of form he is hoping to recapture in a bid to jumpstart Northern's season.

The South African, who played his cricket with Constantia back home, has had knocks of 26 and 19 in his side's opening two defeats.

But he is looking for a big improvement as the summer hots up.

``The guys know what I am capable of after my 98 against Lancashire in Cape Town.

``And when everything comes together, it's going to be big.

``In the first game I thought I did pretty well and on Saturday I was out to a bit of a dodgy decision.

``But I am sure things will come right and, at this stage, I am not too worried about it.''

And if the wickets start to firm up in the coming weeks then he is confident he can pile up the runs over the course of the season. ``I haven't seen the record books but I wouldn't mind a crack at it.

``There are still over 20 games to go and I want to get at least five or six hundreds and I am looking to get 1,200 runs plus.

``I've seen a bit of Lancashire League cricket already and I have been impressed by the standard and how professional it looks.

``And I wouldn't mind returning next year to have a go at that level.''

But first and foremost he must help his current side address an early slide which has seen them slip to crushing defeats at the hands of Oswaldtwistle Immanuel and Whalley.

And it is in the batting department where he feels most improvement is needed. ``In the first game we batted first and just did not bat well collectively.

``In the second game we should have got the 140 we needed to win easily but we were hit by a couple of dodgy decisions.

``It's early days yet but we've just got to keep going and work on our batting. ``I will be trying to help the lads as much as I can.''

It's not just the senior players who will be benefitting from his experience in the coming months.

Maron has run a coaching clinic for youngsters back in South Africa for the last two years and he is hoping to set up something similar over here.

He attended an academy run by Clive Rice for five months over the winter and he is looking to pass on some useful tips to possible stars of tomorrow.

``I am hoping to get something going this Saturday and it will be aimed at teaching kids of all levels about every aspect of the game.''

For more information contact Ryan on (01254) 699060.


Source: The Lancashire Evening Telegraph

Contributed by CricInfo Management, and reproduced with permission
help@cricinfo.com

Date-stamped : 07 Oct1998 - 04:17