Howard had previously played in three premierships with Strathdale-Maristians, while also winning two BDCA Cricketer of the Year awards.

This weekend Howard will captain the Dragons against  the Suns in the BDCA grand final.

Ahead of the grand final showdown with his former team, here’s a look back at the appointment of Howard at the Dragons following his decorated Suns career.

PUBLISHED IN THE BENDIGO ADVERTISER ON MAY 9, 2013

CRAIG Howard has taken the reins as coach of Sandhurst Cricket Club aiming to ensure the Dragons earn back the respect of the competition.

The Dragons yesterday announced Howard – a three-time premiership player with Strathdale-Maristians – had joined them as coach for at least the next three Bendigo District Cricket Association seasons.

Having been a part of a golden era for the Suns, who have won the past three flags, Howard joins a club that has played in the first XI finals just once since 1987, and won its last premiership in 1979.

“Being a level three cricket coach, at some stage I was going to take the opportunity to coach a club that needs a culture change, and I don’t think there’s any bigger challenge in Bendigo than Sandhurst,” Howard said.

“What drives me is the bigger the challenge, the better. They have a proud history in the past, but their recent history hasn’t had a lot of success, so that drives me and makes me determined to make them better.

“But there’s a lot of things that have to happen before they start thinking about the halycon days of the 1970s when they were a very proud club.

“It’s going to be about winning back the respect of the competition for a start. At the moment it would be very difficult to get high-quality players to come to Sandhurst because of the perception of the club.

“Inside the club the people who are there are quite happy, but the perception outside is the way they have gone about their cricket in the past is probably something that needs to change.

“The first point of call of trying to earn respect is you’ve got to give it, and I don’t think they have given a lot of sides the respect they deserve, so we’ll be trying to change the way they play their cricket.

“We’ll certainly be trying to be as competitive as ever, and Strathdale people know there’s no bigger competitor than me, but it will be the way in which they compete and carry themselves on and off the field that will be the big change I’ll be trying to look for.

“The committee is certainly committed to it and if there’s people who decide it’s not for them, we’ll find 11 who are prepared to do it in the first XI, and hopefully, it then rubs off through the grades.”

As well as the challenge of transforming the culture of Sandhurst, Howard also believes it was in the best interest of Strathdale that he moved on.

“Going into the finals last year, we had 13 players that obviously didn’t fit into 11, and two high-quality players in Jaran McKay and Jacob DeAraugo missed out, which was unfortunate,” Howard said.

“There was a chance that they were going to move on elsewhere for opportunity next season, so I thought that as a 39-year-old, it’s incredibly selfish to hang around for the sake of winning premierships.

“So the fact we could lose a couple of people who could be great around the club for the next 10 years for the sake of a greedy old bloke makes this the right timing.

“Weighing all the factors up, the timing is right for me and Strathdale as well.”

Howard – who previously played 16 first-class games for Victoria in the ‘90s – spent the past seven seasons at the Suns, including stints as coach and captain, making 2059 runs at 34.6 and taking 135 wickets at 20.2.

He played in the club’s premiership hat-trick of 2011, 2012 and 2013 and won back-to-back BDCA Cricketer of the Year awards in 2008 and 2009.

Strathdale captain Linton Jacobs said Howard had been integral to the success of the club in recent years.

“We wish Craig all the best. He’s been a major part of our success with what he brought in terms of his leadership and gameplan,” said Jacobs, who took over the captaincy from Howard at the end of the 2008-09 season.

“We’re obviously disappointed he’s going. His knowledge and experience will be sorely missed and Sandhurst is very privileged to have him on board.

“But from our point of view, it opens up opportunities for Jacob DeAraugo and Jaran McKay and more bowling for Ryan Haythorpe. So in the long-run we think we’ll be in a very strong position as a club and if Craig had stayed, we may not have been.

“It’s best for both parties... if anything, we’ve probably won.”

While coaching Sandhurst, Howard will also retain his role as the spin coach for state team South Australia.