Prolific run-scorer Jonty Manktelow has taken the reins at Evandale Panthers, set to coach the club in 2021-22.
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Only 26 years of age, Manktelow said a conversation with club president Rickie Wells put him on the path to replacing Andrew Wright, who coached the entity through its first season after the amalgamation of Evandale and Bishopsbourne.
"He said to me that he had aspirations for me to be head coach over time and thought this year would be good year for it and came up and approached me about it," Manktelow said.
"I had a thing about it, had a meeting and I decided to take it on.
"I've certainly thought about it, probably maybe not as young as I am but I'm ready to take on the challenge and I've done assistant coaching now so I've had a feel of almost what it's like to be a head coach."
Across his career, Manktelow has played with Launceston and Westbury in Cricket North, Devonport in Cricket North-West and Whitemore and Cressy in the TCL before ending up at Bishopsbourne before last season's amalgamation.
He finished 11th in the TCL standings as the Panthers' second highest run-scorer last season, scoring 433 at 33.31, as well as taking 20 wickets at 13.9.
The premier league newcomers finished seventh, with Manktelow, who works in aged care, believing there is plenty of room for improvement.
"It would have been nice to finish a bit higher and play some finals but for our first year in the competition I thought we played pretty well.
"We had a few good wins, there were a few games that were pretty close that could have gone our way, so it was a success in the fact that we got through the year and had a year in premier league for all the players to have a feel of what it's like to step up from A-grade."
The Panthers start pre-season training on Sunday, with the new leader saying the club has retained most of its players from last season and is hopeful of attracting some fresh faces to get his side up the ladder.
"Hopefully we can get some results and push hard for finals, especially in premier league, push up from seventh and hopefully see ourselves up in the top four would be nice."
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
