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PHC appoint Anderson as new skipper

PHC wicketkeeper Jason Anderson, shown whipping the bails off to run out Southampton Rangers batsman Jason Simons last year, will captain the Zebras this year. (Photo by Glenn Tucker)

Jason Anderson has been named the new skipper of PHC.The Bermuda wicketkeeper replaces Kyle Lightbourne, who has stepped down because he does not feel he can give the role the time and commitment it deserves.Lightbourne led PHC to the most successful cricket season in the club’s history last year, winning the Belco Cup, the Western Counties, and finishing fourth in the Premier Division. Anderson has some big shoes to fill, and his first task will be to lead his side in their Belco Cup defence, which begins next Saturday with a semi-final against Bailey’s Bay at Somerset.“I feel pretty confident about it because guys have been training for roughly two months. They know what’s at stake, they know we’re the holders of the trophy,” said Anderson.“It’s all about performing on the day, and if guys play their game I shouldn’t see any reason why we can’t go all the way and defend the cup.“We’ve got a good team with youth and experience, and I hope we can put it all together on the day.”The new PHC skipper announced his appointment at the Belco Cup launch yesterday and said he was still getting used to the idea of being in charge after only finding out that he had got the job earlier this week.“I just found out two days ago that PHC was looking to replace Kyle Lightbourne, and they looked at me as one of the players to take on the role,” he said.“I feel good about it, it will add a little bit more responsibility to my game going into the season being that we have lost a few players that were key in our last season. But, I’ve accepted the role, it’s a good thing to be captain of PHC.”Anderson said that he intended to bring a positive approach to his captaincy and said that he would use a lot of what he learned from Lightbourne, and during his time away with the national team, in his role.“Coming off these last few international tours I’ve taken note of a lot of things,” he said.“I want to be...positive, look to put people under pressure right away, when we’re batting to play good, aggressive cricket, and look to do the basic things when it comes to batting where we have been lacking, like running between the wickets, and rotating the stuff like that. That’s the type of captain I want to be.“In the last 12 months I have learnt quite a few things, not just on the international scene, but locally. I thought Kyle Lightbourne did a fantastic job with the team last year, and I was working, basically, as one of the vice-captains at PHC, and I learnt a lot from him, in terms of his motivational way with the team.”PHC come into the new season having lost three influential players from last year, with Dean Stephens and Ricardo Brangman returning to Devonshire Rec, and Fiqre Crockwell joining St David’s.Still Anderson said that given the team’s wealth of experience, mixed alongside the emerging talents of Kamau Leverock, he felt PHC could match their success of last season.“We always look to play good, tough, aggressive, entertaining cricket,” said Anderson.“PHC is full of experienced players, you’ve got Sheridan Ming, David Adams, Cal Waldron, Kevin Tucker, Chris Foggo now comes into this, we’ve got a good group of guys and we should do just as well this season as we did last season.”