Sudbury Cricket Club captain Paddy Sadler bids to do everything he can to help side survive Thurlow Nunn East Anglian Premier League drop
Sudbury captain Paddy Sadler has vowed to do ‘everything he can to play’ for the Talbots as they bid to preserve their status in the Thurlow Nunn East Anglian Premier League (EAPL).
The skipper suffered a hairline fracture to his fibula in training last Tuesday and will miss his side’s next two matches – which includes Saturday’s clash at second-from-bottom Saffron Walden (11am), who ninth-placed Sudbury are battling with in a fight to avoid finishing the season in the relegation play-off spot.
Jonny Gallagher (back spasm) also missed Saturday’s 116-run defeat at home to reigning champions Swardeston, but Sadler will push his body to its limits should his side not have guaranteed safety in their next two games.
“It’s just waiting to see if it settles down but if we need to get a result or two in the last couple of games, I’ll do everything I can to play,” he said. “But at the moment, I’m just having to rest.
“It’s really frustrating (to have to watch from the sidelines). We’ve had a pretty challenging summer, particularly through the red-ball cricket (season).
“We then had a really fantastic win at Copdock, which we were hoping to use as a bit of a springboard for the final part of the season and I think, on a personal level, it’s really frustrating to have the massive high of winning that game against one of our local rivals and a really good team, to then not be able to play for the next few weeks.
“I’m not a very good watcher, to be honest. I guess it’s a cliché, but I always want to be out there trying to influence things and trying to help the guys.”
Adam Jones, who was handed the captain’s duties on Saturday, will continue to lead Sudbury until Sadler returns.
A win this weekend could propel the Talbots to 61 points above the potential drop with three games remaining and some of the bottom-four teams are set to play each other over the next few weeks.
As a result, Sadler admitted that his side are ‘confident’ ahead of their trip to Anglo American Playing Fields.
“We understand it’s a big game, but if we play to our potential then we’ve got every chance of winning. It’s just about a few of our players stepping up and performing,” he said.
“We’re a team that’s been extremely young at times this year due to the nature of our squad and a policy to try to bring through the next generation.
“(A win) would definitely be a massive step towards securing our EAPL status.
“To stay in the league would be a decent achievement from our young team.”
With just three wins so far this season, Sadler admitted his side have ‘slightly underperformed’ in a ‘disappointing’ campaign, but hailed an ‘overall positive year for the club’ – as the second team are fighting for promotion in Division Three of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship and the first team has introduced seven under-23s players into the squad this term.
