Waterlooville CC welcome hat-trick of new signings with ‘great pedigree’ as they aim to build on great end to 2021 Southern Premier League campaign

Waterlooville CC chairman of cricket Andy Reynolds has hailed the arrival of three players with ‘great pedigree’.
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Ville ended last season on a high, winning their final three Southern Premier League Division 2 games and also beating higher tier Basingstoke & North Hants to lift the T20 Plate at The Ageas Bowl.

Now hopes are high that new signings Josh McGregor, Josh McCoy and Gabriel Broadhurst can help inspire a promotion push.

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Top order batsman McGregor, 22, hails from the Howick Pakuranga club in New Zealand’s North Island, where ex-Hampshire pair Colin Munro and Colin de Grandhomme have played.

Josh McCoy, left, has left Purbrook to join Waterlooville.
Picture: Chris MoorhouseJosh McCoy, left, has left Purbrook to join Waterlooville.
Picture: Chris Moorhouse
Josh McCoy, left, has left Purbrook to join Waterlooville. Picture: Chris Moorhouse

McGregor, who can also bowl seam, announced himself with an unbeaten 62 on his Ville debut in a friendly against Middleton 2nds. He also scored 50 in last Sunday’s 122-run National Club Championship thumping by Datchet.

Broadhurst arrives after not playing much cricket in the last two years. Previously, he was at Petersfield - he scored 147 in a Hampshire League game during his teens - before a few years at Liphook & Ripsley. Opening the batting with skipper Archie Reynolds, he struck 46 in a friendly against Dorking last weekend.

Like Broadhurst, McCoy was another to contact Ville over the winter. Formerly of Havant and the Hampshire Academy, he had spent a few years captaining Purbrook and was seeking a fresh challenge.

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The all-rounder is a proven SPL performer. With the bat, he once hammered 198 for Havant against Ventnor in a top flight game. With the ball, he bagged 30 Division 3 wickets for Purbrook in 2018 including 6-47 against Fawley.

‘It’s a chance for Josh to get his career back on track,’ said Andy Reynolds. ‘He can focus on his batting and bowling playing with people he knows.

‘We didn’t go touting, he came to us. He hasn’t got the pressure of being captain (as he was at Purbrook) and all the other things that come with being captain of a cricket team. He can just turn up and play and focus on his own performance.’

All three new faces could bat in the top five and Andy Reynolds added: ‘It’s worked out nicely.

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‘Batting was one area we had talked about needing to become more consistent.

‘We believe we are improving, we just need to be more consistent.

‘All three (new signings) come with a great pedigree. My role is to help provide the right environment and opportunity for each to make significant contributions to the team.

‘We’ve done a lot of hard work on both the square and outfield to help provide a better playing experience.

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‘It’s extremely encouraging and a testimony of all this hard work that such players would want to join the club and be part of this journey as we look to improve the standard of cricket played and opportunities we can offer our membership.

‘We are most definitely not the finished article, but we have worked extremely hard to point the club in the right direction and keep moving forward.’

Approaching his second league season as Ville skipper, Archie Reynolds goes into this weekend’s opening game at St Cross 2nds in form. In three friendlies so far, he has compiled 81 not out (v Sarisbury), 54 (v Middleton 2nds) and 51 not out (v Dorking).