Meet Andre Seymore

Accrington Cricket Club Professional
2002 season

Andre tell us about your cricketing background:
I am 27 years old and I play for Easterns Cricket Union. I started off at Northern Transvaal where I played for four years. Then I moved to Gauteng and I played four years for them. I also played for South Africa Students, South African Universities, South Africa Under 21s and Under 24.

You seem to have played for quite a few first class teams. Is that unusual in South Africa?
Yes players usually stay as long as possible with one Union. At Northern Transvaal, Keith Medlycott who's now the coach at Surrey, didn't think I was a One Day player so I moved on. There was a big development going on at Gauteng so again I moved on to Easterns, which hopefully will be my last Union.

Tell us about your mammoth first class innings of 174: It was against Northern Transvaal, one of my former teams. I batted for 11 hours and I was on the field for 22 hours which I enjoyed very much.

You've played in England before:
Yes I played in Bristol for three years in the Western League of England. I didn't bowl a lot because I had a bad knee. The weather was good though. They don't have a lot of overseas players down there but the standard was alright. The one thing they do have down there is covers for all the grounds.

How did you do with the bat?
I got the most runs in the league every season I played there. In my first two seasons I got just over 700 runs in 15 games and in my last season I got 1,000 runs in 16 games.

Will you score 1,000 runs for Accrington?
Hopefully and I'll take more wickets as well.

How have you found the standard in the Lancashire League?
The standard is quite good. The overseas players are very good this year. Some teams have good amateurs which you need to make the side strong. Andrew Payne of Rawtenstall looks a very good player.

Who has impressed you in the Accrington team? I think Damian, in his first full season as captain, is going to do well. He's not a bad left arm spinner. He needs to bowl more overs. Old man Steve is alright for his age - I think he'll do well. We have one or two good young players. Nasser, if he wants to play in the first team, Cheesy is a very good player who I think will be Accrington's best amateur for the next 10 or 15 years. He played a very good innings at Todmorden when he won the game for us.

Where are you living this summer?
I live on my own in Burnley Lane. I'm a loner so it's not a big problem for me.

How do you spend your time?
Mostly I'm figuring out how to do my washing and cooking. I go to the gym twice a day and I do some coaching as well.

Where do you think Accrington will finish in the league this year? Can we get off the bottom of the table?
We wont finish bottom. We will be above Lowerhouse, Church, Burnley and I think we have a good chance of finishing above Nelson as well.

Were you very disappointed not to beat Lowerhouse? Very disappointed. I think if we had played a full game we would have beaten them. Unfortunately I got out in the last over when I should have tried a different strategy.

What do you think we need to do to improve as a club?
The team is young and you need to get one or two more good amateurs. You may need to pay them some petrol money or coaching money to attract them but you need to do that to get to the top of the table.

Have you a question that you would like to Ask Andre?

See also Andre's profile

Here are your questions:

From DC: "Andre is it true that you support every football team apart from England? How did South Africa do? "
Yes DC. there is nothing better than to see the 'Poms' or England to be second best. England is getting better but with the help of the overseas players. I think South Africa didn't do too badly for their second World Cup.

From Julie Hanson: "Hi Andre! Out of all of our young teams which young players do you think will blossom into good players?"
There is a lot of talent in the Juniors and it will be very good for the future of Accrington Cricket Club with players like Jacob Clarke, Simon Hanson, Matty Schofield and Callum and Marley Ali from the Under 11s, Sagawat Hussain, Graeme Sneddon, Andrew Thompson and Andrew Greenwood around.

From Mike, Southampton: "Who do you think is a better player Tariq Bhai or Paul (Cockney) Clifford? Don't sit on the fence tell us what you really think. "
Hi Mike. Maybe you should come and see for yourself. We need all the support we can get. If you look at this season's stats it speaks for itself. Tariq is the team's main all rounder and has got age on his side. Cockney is the more experienced player and a lower order batter. Both are doing a good job this season. Over time, Tariq will be a more influential player.

From the Wicked Watcher: "If the 1st team took on the 2nds, which team do you think would win? You wouldn't be allowed to play."
There is a big difference in any standard of cricket if you move up in the rankings. 1st team cricket is a high standard if you play against teams like Bacup, Enfield or Ramsbottom. The team we select every weekend is the strongest and will beat the 2nd team.