Reaching Division One after a two decade hiatus is an achievement that’s being rightly celebrated at the Club. The fans forum this week was a welcome sight, as longstanding, respected supporters talked about the huge strides taken by Richard Dawson and the squad this year. The building work in recent years, and certainly this campaign is there for all to see.
The weight of promotion – and the reality of playing Division One cricket next year - is also by no means lost on red-ball vice-captain, Kiran Carlson.
“It’s huge, it’s the pinnacle of the game,” Kiran explained. “Obviously the white-ball stuff is very important as well, but the Championship is where people often give the most importance to, from the fans and players’ point of view, and to play Division One cricket is something all of us in the changing room are really excited to do.
“We know it is going to be a big challenge, we know it is going to be a step up, but we are fully backing ourselves. Hopefully, this propels the Club to do all the things that we’ve been wanting to do for years; to create England players, have a legacy of a very good team, a very good squad, and to keep producing and attracting players to us.
“Hopefully in a couple of years, we’re right at the very top of the Division One table and pushing for a Championship.”
Highlighting a complete team performance to get the Club up this season, Kiran added:
“I feel like all the batters have done their jobs throughout the year, there have been people chipping in (with runs), lots of guys averaging 45 plus, and that’s a sign of a very good side. We all work very hard in our batting. We all have very high standards.
“We never want to settle for anything other than big scores, and putting ourselves into winning positions. Luckily, in the past couple of games, the bowlers have bailed us out, got some nice lower-order runs.”
Kiran then added views on the impact Sam Northeast has had at the Club, in breaking numerous batting records and leading the side to promotion for the first time in 20 years.
On Sam’s influence, Kiran said: “Sam has been a legend for us, both on and off the pitch. I think he impacted the group massively in terms of standards, and the way he dragged people us to be closer to where he is.
“He’s going to be a big loss for us, and we’re very sad to see him leave. But obviously he has made the right decision for himself and his family. We all have to step up and be sure we score the amount of runs he seems to score each year.”
Finally, on potentially taking over red-ball captaincy in addition to leading the Club in white-ball competitions, Kiran said:
“Haven’t talked to the boss yet, so we’ll see how he thinks, but if I do end up taking over, it’ll be big boots to fill. I have done a little bit of captaincy in the Championship, and I maybe have a slightly different style to Sam. I’ll probably be a bit more emotional about it all.
“I’ll give it my own spin, try to be authentic, and if the powers that be want me to be captain, I’ll give my best shot.
“I have learnt a lot from a lot of the senior guys over the past few years, and I feel like I am getting to that age where I can start leading, so if it comes to that hopefully I can do it justice.”
