BROMSGROVE skipper Mark Evenson was ‘over the moon’ to capture the services of Warwickshire’s Aaron Thomason ahead of the next Birmingham League Division One campaign.
Having lost star man Alexei Kervezee to fellow Division One side Halesowen in the summer after an 11-year stint at St Godwald’s Park, the Boars have been busy trying to find a replacement to fill the huge gap he left behind.
And having already snapped up Alec Baker from Knowle & Dorridge at the start of November, Evenson was delighted to have got another professional in Thomason on the books at Bromsgrove.
The Boars skipper knows Thomason very well having coached him when he was involved with the Bears’ under-13s squad and Evenson could not hide his delight in signing the 20-year-old.
“Aaron is a brilliant guy who would run through a brick wall for you,” he said.
“He is the ultimate winner and when the chips are down he is the person to give things a real good go.
“Aaron’s attitude to the game is brilliant and after he got relegated with Walmley last season, he was the first name on our list.”
Prior to his departure Kervezee made 143 appearances for Bromsgrove, scored 5,737 runs at an average of 43.36 and claimed 115 wickets from 819 overs.
With big boots to fill, Evenson is confident Thomason will be the man to get among the runs and wickets like his Dutch counterpart.
“Aaron will be do a massive job for us at the top of the batting order but if needed we can always call up on him to bowl a few overs,” he said.
“He is the ideal replacement for Alexei and we are over the moon to have him on board.
“Now that we have got Aaron and Alec, that is our business done because we always want to try and promote from within.
“There are some young players coming of age like Ryan Pedley and George Marshall and we want to continue with that philosophy.”
With the new season just four months away, Evenson revealed the club have set their sights on a top four finish.
Last term the Boars finished fifth in unfortunate circumstances because their final two games of the campaign fell foul of the weather.
“We were unlucky that the weather thwarted our hopes of a top four place last season,” said Evenson.
“Top four is where we want to be but anything better than that we will take with open arms.”
