2007 Season Report
At the start of
the season our goal was to gain promotion back to the county league
after the disappointment of relegation in 2006. However a
disastrous first half of the season saw us in 8th place
(out of 12) at the end of June, with relegation looking more likely
than promotion. The team rallied in the second half, and with the
exception of a defeat at Ashley on the penultimate weekend (albeit
on a very dubious wicket), every match we played we managed either a
win or a winning draw. A final placing of third was a fair
reflection on the team – from July onwards we were comfortably the
best team in the league (we accumulated 190 points in the second
half, whereas league winners Stockport only got 155) but we’d left
ourselves too much to do.
In retrospect,
perhaps our poor start shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise
– the side was much changed from that of previous years, not least
because our top four batsmen from last year were all unavailable for
the first six games (two had left the club, one was injured all
season and the other was away at university) and in their absence a
number of different players came into the side:
·
New
overseas player Vishal Sharma showed what a class act he is,
averaging over 45 and scoring five 50’s
·
Tom
Holloway moved up from the 2nd team and played three
important innings (55*, 50 and 64* against Runcorn, Ashley and
Prestbury respectively)
·
Mike Stephens returned after not playing much in 2006 and produced
three vital innings in difficult situations (53, 43* and 42 against
Marple, Cholmondeley and Ashley respectively) in addition to scoring
68 and 45 in the demolitions of wooden-spoonists Prestbury
·
Chris Hart played his first full season at 1st team level
and produced four excellent innings (83, 69*, 32 and 72 against
Marple, Alvanley, Davenham and Oakmere respectively), and also
captained the side for six games in May and June
·
Mike Huckle came into the side and provided some experience and
moments of class in the lower-middle order
These five
batsmen qualified for the league averages along with Dave Madden,
who was captain for the last ten games but had a disappointing
season with the bat, failing to register a single 50.
The bowling was
the weak link in 2006 and this was probably true again this year.
The loss of original captain Gary Edwards after just five games to a
broken finger left a vacant opening slot that was filled by AJ Hart,
previously considered a batting all-rounder. AJ took wickets
consistently (finishing with 31 in total) and bowled with real
aggression to become the side’s main strike bowler. Vishal Sharma
also proved a fine off-spinner, and his return of 46 wickets is
likely to make him one of the league’s top bowlers. A number of
other bowlers were used but none managed the twenty wickets that
would qualify them for a place in the league averages –
disappointing considering the bowler-friendly pitches we played on
for a large part of the season:
·
Nadeem Alam always bowled with excellent control but never saw the
return that his bowling seemed to deserve
·
Mike Roberts came back into the side in the second half of the
season and his return of 14 wickets at fewer than 13 runs apiece
suggested he should have been there much earlier
·
Paul Vesey had the side’s best return of the season, 6-35 against
Prestbury, but failed to hold down a regular place in the side
·
Steve Johnson came into the side at the end of the season and showed
excellent potential for the future, taking six wickets at fewer than
ten runs apiece
Looking back on
the season as a whole, we have to accept that it has been a
disappointment. For a club of our size, with the number of quality
cricketers we have in our ranks, to be playing at this level isn’t
good enough. However, for the first time in the five years I’ve
been playing for the 1st team, we’ve managed to put
together a run of wins and this suggests to me we might have turned
the corner. Hopefully we can take this form into the start of next
season, and if we do then I’m sure promotion back to the county
league will follow.
Dave Madden
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Archive
for averages, results, fixture records, etc.
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