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Brooklands CC 2nd XI - Division 1 Champions 2005!
Back row, left to right: Nick Roberts, Rob Holloway,
Paul Vesey, Mike Stevens, Dave Bolton, Michael Higginbottom, Chris Hart, Ian
Stanworth, Bill Brown
Front row, left to right: Mark Law, Pat Roberts, Dave
Rushton, Chris Moore, Antony Platt, Matt Guy
2007 Season Report
The 2nd XI began their season venturing into the
unknown. 2006 had seen us finish 6th in the CCCL 2nd XI premier
league but the 1st XI’s relegation out of the CCCL consigned us
to the MBCCL Division A, 3 leagues down.
As captain I felt that the biggest thing we had to guard against
this year was complacency, in other words avoid the ‘we only
have to turn up to beat these’ attitude which could have come to
the fore after the successes of 2006. To that end my vice
captain, Antony Platt, and I, laid down some targets for the
team. The ones we achieved were:
• To win the league - which we did by 71 points from Oakmere!
• To score more than 400 points - we totalled 414.
• To break the league record for most points in a season - Our
414 beat Sale’s 408 from a few seasons’ ago, Sale though had
only 1 rain off to our 3.
Some targets we didn’t achieve! Let’s hope we achieve them next
year.
With this in mind and with everyone abundantly clear of what me
and Antony expected from them, the season began on a glorious
day at Marple. We rolled them for 80 odd, knocked them off for 4
and were on our way. Stockport Georgians were up next; batting
first they amassed a huge 246 for 5 after an appalling bowling
and fielding performance from us. We chased, hard and at the end
of the game we ended up 2 runs short, 9 wickets down, snatching
a draw from the jaws of victory after a 140 odd opening stand.
We then embarked on an unbelievable run of results. The
Georgians game had focussed a few minds, and sharpened a few of
us up. Over the next 13 weeks we beat Mere, Malpas (twice), Old
Parkonians, Runcorn, Davenham, Cholmondeley, Oakmere, Ashley,
and Marple. The game against Ashton on Mersey, and the return
games against Stockport Georgians and Mere all fell victim to
the summer monsoons but this meant in the 10 games we got
started out of the 13 from May 5th to July 28th we won the lot
amassing 230 points (251 if you count the rain offs) in the
process. Also during this run we beat Lymm OP, Ashton on Mersey,
Stockport Georgians, Marple and Lindow as we progressed to the
final of the 20/20 cup. Making 15 wins from 18 games!
Keeping this momentum going was obviously going to be hard, the
availability issues that have once again plagued the club this
season began to bite even harder, and an injury crisis began to
engulf the clubs seamers. The remaining 7 games saw us draw with
Old Parkonians, beat Runcorn, lose at Davenham (our only league
loss of the season) beat Cholmondeley and Oakmere (which secured
the league title), draw with Ashley and tie on the last day
against Ashton on Mersey. The points we got here though ensured
we set a new league record.
The 20/20 final against Northwich saw us muster only 88 for 7 in
our 20 overs. That they limped home in the last over, 8 down, is
a testament to how well we bowled and fielded, but unfortunately
we didn’t score enough runs batting first and lost the game.
We used an incredible 40 players during the season!
On the batting front 5 players have qualified for the league
averages. Rob Holloway leads the way with 388 runs at an average
55.43. Batting at 3 for the majority of the games he played in
he began to look like the batsman I know he can be. The
evergreen Allan Clowes was next with 376 runs @ 47; Allan
remains a class act at this level of the game and played a
crucial role in the development of a number of players this
year. John Pearson’s 10 knocks yielded 309 runs @ 34.33 and he
successfully made the change to opening the innings later in the
year. Antony Platt was our top run scorer with 418 @ 32.15 and
again he played some excellent ‘backs to the wall’ knocks for
me. The final qualifier for the league averages is Elliot
Woodage; in his first full year of 2nd XI cricket he managed 408
runs @ 27.20. Lots of players batted 5 or 6 times for us: Mark
Law and Matt King both impressing with averages of 25+.
On the bowling front 2 players have qualified for the league
averages. Chris Moore once again led the pack with 28 wickets at
an average of 11.82. Chris never fails to disappoint! Pete
Staley also got into the averages, with 22 wickets at 13.23
although only managing 12 games due to a back injury. 5 other
bowlers managed 10 or more wickets, Steve Johnson 10 @ 29.20,
Tom Mitchell 10 @ 10.20, Elliot Woodage 13 @ 16.08, Rob Holloway
14 @ 13.71 and Mark Law 11 @ 11. Just as an aside during the
last 4/5 weeks of the season we were 4 bowlers short with me,
Tom Mitchell, Matt Guy and Ollie Bristowe ALL injured. On top of
the continuing availability issues, this probably accounts for
our lack of penetration later in the season. All the regular’s,
bought in to what we were trying to achieve and were fundamental
to the success of the team.
Over the course of the season we proved ourselves to be the
dominant side in the division. Our batting generally could have
been better. On to many occasions we would need runs from
someone batting in the lower order to help us out, or we would
establish a base only to flounder later as wickets tumbled. Only
on 2 or 3 occasions did we really dominate a team with the bat.
With the appalling availability problems I was rarely able to
keep a settled batting order and on a number of occasions 5 of
my top 6 or 7 would be under 21. Our bowling however was a
different class. In the first half of the season we were able
most weeks to field a well balanced attack. With myself, Paul
Vesey, Steve Johnson and Tom Mitchell providing the seam and
Chris Moore, Rob Holloway and Elliot Woodage backing us up with
spin. Matty Guy and Chan also played a few games and we simply
blew a few teams away. In the second half of the season we
didn’t quite have the same options. Although Ollie Bristowe and
Mark Law both came in and did well. The success of the 2nd XI
though is centred firmly on a strong team ethos. It’s not the
individual performances that matter, although we enjoy sharing
each other’s personal successes; it’s the performance of the
TEAM. An attitude that was adopted by all and helped us enjoy
the season as much as we did.
So after 3 league titles in 4 years (two with the 4’s and this
one with the 2’s), I have decided to stand down as captain. With
a baby on the way I just won’t be able to commit the time to it
next season. Antony Platt, who I’m certain will do a magnificent
job, will take over the captaincy assisted by Allan Clowes. We
are again consigned to another season out of a standard
appropriate to us but I’m sure Antony and Allan will keep
everyone on there toes! Finally, my thanks go to Antony Platt,
for standing in so capably in my absence, the senior pro’s Allan
Clowes, Chris Moore and, later in the season, Hash Maitra for
your help and support. Thanks also to Bill Brown for putting up
with us and umpiring all season, and last, but by no means least
to George Drakonakis who has been just as important a member of
the team as everyone else from the score box.
Pete Staley
Please check the
Archive
for averages, results, fixture records, etc.
Previous Seasons
All match reports, season reports, averages,
fixtures, team photos, league tables, etc from previous seasons
which have been submitted to the website are now stored in the
club
Archive. Click
here
to access them, or follow the links from the menu (under Members
Area).
League Newsletters
30.07.05 League Newsletter
20.08.05 League Newsletter
17.09.05 League Newsletter
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