THE advice and support of his team-mates has proved a huge benefit for Glen Kermode after taking over as Barrow Cricket Club captain for the 2018 season.

After a difficult start to the Northern Premier League campaign which saw the Ernest Pass outfit lose their first four matches, Kermode's men have only been beaten once in their last six Division One matches, with last Saturday's two-wicket win over Garstang making it back-to-back triumphs.

The support of vice-captain Greg Reynolds, Robin Adams, Daryl Wearing and overseas professional Grant Roelofsen have been invaluable to Kermode as he adapts to life as captain, although he has no qualms about making the big decisions himself.

“It's a challenge, definitely, and a bit of a baptism of fire at the start, but the lads have supported me,” said Kermode.

“Having Daryl, Robin Adams and Grant, and Greg Reynolds as my vice-captain, to give me ideas has been really good. Daryl, the way he has been bowling and being a stalwart as a club, I rely on him bouncing ideas off him and seeing what he thinks.

“But ultimately, as a captain, you've got a lot of people who can offer you advice, but you have to go with your gut instinct and I've found that out in the first eight or nine games. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but that's part of sport in general.”

Barrow's recent resurgence is put to the test tomorrow when they travel to fourth-placed Fleetwood, although the team go there full of confidence on the back of a win over Garstang which saw the bowlers come to the fore after the hosts were dismissed for 125.

Spinner Ryan Gilmour and Reynolds in particular helped tie down the Garstang batsmen, with the latter taking 6 for 37 from 13 overs to wreak havoc in the visitors' batting order and get the game-clinching wicket with a run-out.

“The pitch wasn't doing as much as it did in the first innings, so Gilly bowled really in varying his pace, but it wasn't gripping as much as it did for Garstang's spinners,” said Kermode.

“But Greg came on and he's got a lot of variation. He hit the pitch hard and ended up taking six wickets – and got the winning run-out as well, which was a great piece of fielding.

“We're in a bit of a transition phase, but we've got a really good team vibe and the team performances have improved throughout the season. We feel we can beat anyone on the day and anyone in the league.

“We came up against strong Blackpool and Netherfield sides, but we're looking forward to playing Fleetwood. They're quite high up in the league and we've got a couple of players missing, but the bowling unit are bowling really well and hopefully we can just support Grant with the batting, so fingers crossed.”

It is a busy weekend for the club, with tomorrow's trip to Fleetwood followed by a Readers Twenty20 Cup double-header at home to Cumbrian rivals Netherfield and Penrith.

Barrow can no longer qualify for the knock-out stages, but Kermode is eager for the team to get as much out of it as they can, along with seeing further progress from second-team players Ben Carr and Matthew Adams, who have featured regularly for the senior side in the shorter format this year.

“It's a learning curve from our point of view, how we're going to adapt to batsmen coming at us a bit more than a 50-over game and it's a good opportunity for some second-teamers to come up and play against some really good players,” said Kermode.

“It's a really good event at the club, hopefully it will be a nice day and people will come to watch it. There are some good players on display.”

In the North Lancashire And Cumbria League Premier Division tomorrow, Dalton host league leaders Cleator, while Furness and Haverigg are at home to Wigton and Whitehaven respectively. Elsewhere, Lindal Moor travel to Keswick and Millom are away to Workington.