CALLINGTON Cricket Club have announced that four of last year’s squad are returning for the 2026 season, including South African run-machine Liam Lindsay.

The left-hander has racked up over 2,200 runs for the Greens in all competitions over the last three summers, establishing himself as one of the best players in the ECB Cornwall Premier League.

While the Greens had a disappointing 2025 which saw them struggle away in the bottom half, three others have also committed.

Former Nottinghamshire Second XI all-rounder Xavie Clarke, who is currently out in Australia playing for Oak Park St Francis CC, is back for a second season having shown glimpses of his undoubted talent, as is speedster Mohammed Danyaal.

Clarke’s destructive batting in the middle-order and handy off-spin will be crucial, while Danyaal, who has taken 48 wickets in just 24 games for the club since arriving for the back part of the 2024 season, has produced several fine spells last summer alongside opening partner and Cornwall opening bowler Ben Ellis who has also agreed to stay.

Reflecting on the news, director of cricket Joe White said: “We are very pleased to have retained Liam Lindsay, Xavie Clarke, Mohammed Danyaal, and Ben Ellis. They are all quality performers, and it would have been a big loss to the club had we lost any of them.”

The new captain to replace the departed Graham Wagg, who has joined Clydach Cricket Club in the South Wales Premier League, will be announced in late January following the club’s annual general meeting.

Callington have also found out their opponents for their return to the ECB National Club Championship as they welcome last year’s ECB Devon Premier League runners-up Paignton on Sunday, April 26.

It will be the final game before the ECB Cornwall Premier League gets underway the following Saturday.

White feels they are in a good place on and off the field.

He said: “It has already been a very productive winter and there has been a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes.

“A lot of time has been spent on maintenance of our square to improve the quality of wickets for next season, and we are confident this will result in better batting surfaces across the summer.”

Callington have plenty of youth coming through and White feels they will flourish in the coming years.

He continued: “A major focus for us as a club is the development of our younger players. We are fully committed to improving them both on and off the field, and we see our current group of Under 19 players as the future first team of Callington Cricket Club.

“As part of this commitment, we have formed a partnership with a local gym, The Zone Callington, who have very kindly sponsored gym memberships and individual training plans for our Under 19 cricketers.

“This underlines how serious we are about helping them improve physically as well as technically.

“Under the guidance of our head coach, former professional Max Waller, and our batting coach, former professional Chris Dent, we are really pushing our young cricketers to the next level.

“Finally, we are also actively exploring options to improve our training facilities at the club. This is long overdue and will significantly improve the quality of our training sessions and the overall environment for player development.”