The Leeming Spartan Cricket Club’s Committee is very excited to formally announce today the appointment of our new Club Captain in our milestone year.
We are delighted to confirm that Paul Kalleske has been appointed as the man to lead the Spartans on the field in year one-hundred, following a decade of service to the Club.
He will be joined by good mate Todd Gill as our Vice Captain for the Centenary Year, a perfect combination with the two having been part of the furniture at the clubhouse for the past two seasons!
These two individuals are amongst the best players in the competition, and more importantly for us in year one-hundred, they are the most respected and well-liked individuals going around.
Paul captained us to our first ever Formula15 Premiership in 2018 whilst Todd served as Vice Captain
One of the most pleasing aspects of the decision is the fact that both have such a strong Club-first attitude, and will without a doubt be the “people’s captain”, serving all grades and all players of all abilities.
Paul is very much at the heart of the Spartans – he is our incumbent Vice President, serves as our Player’s Representative, is on our Centenary Committee and last season co-won the Graeme Ashley Award for the Best Club Person.
These traits and leadership skills make him the obvious choice to replace outgoing captain Matthew Milton, who announced his retirement after last season’s First Grade Premiership defeat to CBC.
Matthew departs the Spartan captaincy having taken us to within touching distance of First Grade finals for two consecutive years, meaning our new captain has considerable shoes to fill, all before one considers the fact it is our centenary year.
Meanwhile, it has been an interesting twelve months for PK, as he is affectionately known, having been axed from the First Grade side in March for the first time in his Spartan career, since becoming our head coach in 2008.
Despite this setback, he has continued to lead from the front on and off the field, assisting with all aspects within the Club, and his ability as a cricketer certainly speaks for itself. His knowledge of the game and love for the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club were at the forefront of everyone’s minds during this time, and he will return to the First Grade side a better and more determined player because of it.
Paul has been the face of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club for many years now, and there isn’t too much he hasn’t achieved during his time here.
He previously captained our First Grade in the 2015/16 season in what was a very difficult year for the side, having seen the retirements and departures of almost all senior players in 2015. There his leadership skills shone, and despite having more than twenty debutants in the side that season we narrowly missed out on finals, finishing a creditable fifth, when the fear of relegation was certainly on the cards.
Since then, he has only excelled, and as I’m sure everyone would agree, he is the ideal choice to lead the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club in our one hundredth year.
Todd meanwhile has been brilliant since walking through the doors – and it should be said, the reason he did so back in 2016 was because of PK – having won our Read/Waterer Medal in his debut season for the Spartans, and that same year winning the Jim McKenna Medal for the best first grade player across the entire association!
His on-field exploits go without saying – this year adding yet another century to his repertoire – and his off-field dedication is just as significant. A core part of our Events Committee last season, he was instrumental in organising two major functions, including one of the best in recent memory, the Spartan Cup, which not only raised vital funds for the Club ahead of our one hundredth year, it generated a fantastic atmosphere amongst all Club members that will live long in the memory for many years to come.
He will of course reprise this role next season, and represent the Club in a major way on the field, in what is a true testament to his character and extremely popular nature that makes him loved by all members.
Together Paul and Todd are quite frankly the ideal choices for our one hundredth year, and they themselves are the first to admit it is such an incredible and humbling honour to represent Leeming Spartan in the biggest year in our history.
On behalf of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, here is to those two fine gentlemen and we certainly look forward to seeing them continue to define everything we want to represent as a Club.
Congratulations guys!