Diss Cricket Club not getting carried away by good start to the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division season

Their impressive start to the season may have surpassed expectations, but nobody at Diss Cricket Club is getting carried away.

Saturday’s derby win over Garboldisham kept Diss second in the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division, 13 points adrift of table-topping Cromer.

And on top of that, the team’s current tally of 122 points is just 42 short of what they totalled in the entirety of their last full campaign, in 2019.

However, as far as captain Lewis Taylor is concerned, nothing has changed from his pre-season ambition.

“The aim is still to make sure this season is more comfortable than in recent years,” he said.

“We probably have surpassed where we thought we might be at this stage, but we’ve done really well and deserve to be where we are.

“But at the same time we’ve only won four games.

“We want to get to that seven or eight-game mark and if we do that with a few games to spare, then we can look at things again.”

One of the leading lights so far this term has been the overseas addition of Kadeem Alleyne.

The all-rounder from Barbados has scored 295 runs – only two batsmen have scored more in the Premier Division – while his return of 12 wickets places him ninth in the league list.

He is set to leave the club later this summer to play in the Caribbean Premier League, so Taylor is determined to make the most of his qualities while he remains at Rectory Meadow.

“He’s made a huge impact, it would be naive to say anything else,” added the skipper. “He’s already produced with the bat and the ball.

“I’ve been with the club six years and he’s probably the best overseas player we’ve had. A lot of the lads that have been here longer say he’s one of the best as well.

“It will be a shame to lose him so we want to get as many wins on the board as we can.

“But we still feel that we’ve got good enough players to win games when he has gone. David Tooke is batting really well at the moment and the likes of Mark Williamson and Dan Taylor are bowling well.”

Taylor and his side will look to continue their momentum tomorrow when they make the short trip to Old Buckenham (12pm).

In contrast to Diss, it has been a tough 2021 season so far for the hosts, who sit second from bottom in the table.

Nevertheless, Taylor has insisted there is no chance of Diss taking their opposition lightly.

“It’s another derby so we know it will be tough,” he said. “They might be second bottom but we will not underestimate them.

“They’ve got plenty of players that are capable of making a big impact on the game.”