GRAMPIANS Cricket Club is wasting little time in its bid to return to the Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A grade finals, announcing Tom Polkinghorne as it’s A grade coach for the 2022-23 season.

The all-rounder has been at the club for three seasons and has spent time across the state at different clubs including Melbourne University, along with two seasons in the UK.

The 35-year-old said it as important to get the role confirmed to help plan for the future.

“I think getting it done early and getting some activity during winter is a good thing,” he said.

“I will be taking a bit of a backseat with playing, I will still look to play a few games, but I will be focusing on the coaching.”

The Pumas had a disastrous 2021-22 campaign, winning just six games and missing finals by 33 points.

Grampians will be hoping the juniors who got a taste of A grade cricket this past season can continue to progress, while some new faces will be on the radar for Polkinghorne to bolster the squad.

“We will certainly look to recruit, but I think we have got a really good core group of players and certainly a really good group of juniors as well,” he said.

“Hopefully we will have a few recruits, but some of the juniors who we gave good experience to last year will come through and I think the core group of players in the 25 to early 30s age bracket is really strong as well.”

Polkinghorne has done some coaching previously but is excited about the prospect of using his knowledge to improve his teammates.

“I have played cricket for a long time and have been lucky enough to play with and against a lot of great players, especially Melbourne University,” he said.

“I will draw a lot from that both on field and off field with club culture and that type of stuff.”

Polkinghorne believed the club had the quality to return to finals this coming season but said it wouldn’t be easy.

“I think we should be playing finals, with a few recruits I think we will be very competitive,” he said.

“The games we lost last year aside from one, were all pretty close.

“We were there or thereabouts, but just lacked a bit of consistency and some match-winning performances from players like myself.

“I see my role as just facilitating and providing training, it is up to the players to have that buy in to want to improve and if they do, I will be happy to be involved as much as I can.

“My philosophy will be about providing the foundation and encouraging people to come along.”