Fayaz Ughradar is to return to Premier League Lytham after spending just one season playing First Division cricket for Liverpool.....and it appears likely he may be joined at Church Road by Dominic O’Brien after the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman changed his mind about remaining in Australia during the 2015 English season.
For a club which prides itself on stability and a relatively low turnover of players, these pieces of news could scarcely be more welcome as Guy Roberts’s players begin to think about a summer in which they will look to improve on what was an excellent third-place finish in 2014.
Lytham’s showing was particularly meritorious because a number of younger cricketers were getting used to the ECB Premier League, and the return of all-rounder Ughradar will be a further boost to the club.
“When Fayaz left at the end of 2013 we made it clear to him that our door would always be open to him,” explained Roberts. “He enjoyed his cricket here and we certainly missed him last season. When he let us know that he wanted to come back, we were very quick to offer him a warm welcome.
“In a way, re-signing Fayaz is like getting two new players because he offers so much with the ball, and if Dom returns too, we will have a recognised wicketkeeper and we won’t have to search around for an overseas player, which can be tricky these days.”
Roberts’s festive spirit will be all the cheerier given that it seems certain that none of last year’s first team squad will be leaving Church Road.
“There’s been plenty of interest in people like Will Hale, Luke Williams and Ben Saunders but they’ve all opted to stay with us and we are obviously very pleased about that,” said Roberts.
