DUNSTALL Cricket Club
have suffered a major blow ahead of the 2008 Derbyshire Premier
League season after first XI captain Stuart Eustace announced his
decision to leave.
The former Warwickshire wicketkeeper has
spent four years at Deer Park but has become disillusioned with the
extensive amount of travelling involved from his home in
Birmingham.
He is now expected to finalise a move to
Birmingham Division One side Dorridge CC - a club his father once
captained.
Dunstall are yet to decide who will captain the
side in 2008, with a decision not expected for several
weeks.
Eustace, 28, a business manager for a property
developer, said: "I've really enjoyed my four years at Dunstall
and was made to feel very welcome both on and off the field, but
towards the back end of last season I began to not enjoy the trips
further away to places like Alfreton and Chesterfield.
"The
closer the season came, the more I felt I didn't want to get half way
through it and feel the same, so I made a decision sooner rather than
later to return to Birmingham.
"For amateur level
wicketkeepers there's only one position available in first team
cricket and there's not many people looking for them, but I have
friends at Dorridge and my dad used to captain them too.
"If
I was a kid growing up within a 10-mile radius of Dunstall, I'd say
it was the club worth playing for. With its facilities and coaching
structure, it's a fantastic club."
Dunstall cricket
manager Alan Hill said: "We're disappointed to be losing Stuart.
Over the two years I've been involved, he's made a significant
contribution to what we've achieved in premier league cricket,
particularly last year as captain, and he's the outstanding
wicketkeeper in the league.
"Having said that, we have to
move on and obviously we wish him all the best.