2007 Season Report
This was our second season in the top-tier of the
3rd XI Saturday competition, and I am pleased to report that we have
shown an improvement on 2006’s performance. We finished a creditable
5th, top of the chasing pack but well behind the top 4. We still
struggled to win games, sometimes lacking the finishing ability, but
this year we competed and only lost 4 compared with 9 in 2006. Once
again, the standard of cricket throughout the season was generally
high and all the games this season were competitive and of a
standard to test all the players involved. Despite the inexperience
of some of the sides we put out, the talent base shone through and
if we can work on closing the experience gap between us and the top
sides by allowing our young talent to spend time getting that
experience we will be able to bridge that gap and compete for the
top slot. The statistics tell the tale. We averaged 185 per innings
with the bat, and 6 wickets per innings with the ball. Whilst there
were certainly some occasions where our batting let us down, notably
Birkenhead away where we only posted 82 and Timperley away where we
were shedded for 133 by a poor attack, it has been our inability to
penetrate with our bowling that has cost us. We drew twice with
Warrington because we failed to bowl them out, and on a number of
other occasions failed to capitalise on good positions. Availability
for the 1’s and 2’s (or rather the lack of it) have again meant that
some of our younger prospects have missed out on the opportunity to
regularly score significant runs or take wickets at 3rd team level
before making the move up to the higher teams. I think it is vital
for the development of our young talent that they get meaningful
experience and success at all levels as they progress. That way they
become more-rounded players further up the ladder. Hopefully we will
be able to achieve this in the future.
There were 37 different people selected to play for the 3’s this
year, 20 of whom were U18’s or younger. This indicates that we have
a huge pool of talent to draw from, but also indicates the problem
we face with availability throughout the season. Of the “regulars”
the old stagers – Garnett, Willard, Belwood and Stanworth were the
experience base, but with the exception of a late season surge of
runs from Ross they failed to dominate performances enough. The 1830
club had more of an influence this year, with Andy Batty, and Mark
Vesey being joined by the likes of Shoaib and Siva and we need to
see their influence grow in years to come. The “regular” youngsters
were Sean “the Pole” Zurawski and the 2 Ollies, Bristowe and Bowden.
All performed well and hopefully continue to learn from the
experience. Ollie Bristowe burst on the scene as a raw quick bowler,
and showed much promise. Hopefully a winter’s work in the nets will
see him convert more of his good deliveries into wicket taking
balls. I was particularly pleased with the other Ollie’s progress
this year. He has batted 11 times this year, at positions ranging
from 3 to 7, scoring 289 runs at an average of 26. He is a good
example of what a run in the 3’s can do, as I feel he has learned
how to bat in different situations, adapt to different surfaces – in
short learned a good deal about how to play the game rather than
just the techniques of playing it. His green / blue / orange hair
has also brought a shine to the fielding this year. I have also been
pleased with what I have seen of Will Pidgeon, Dan Darbyshire and
Paul Clowes, although due to circumstances they have spent time up
on the 2‘s.
Turning to the stats. Ross dominated the batting, scoring 560 in his
12 innings, averaging 47. Nearly ¾ of his runs came in his last 6
knocks so I expect he would have liked the season to continue. His
high spot was certainly a magnificent 161 at home to Upton 4ths. As
far as I can remember this is the highest score posted by a
Brooklands batsman in the past 35 years that I have been playing
here, which really is some achievement. As noted above there were
good contributions from Messrs Bowden, Darbyshire, Pidgeon and
Clowes, who all qualified for the league averages by averaging over
25. They were joined in the list of qualifiers by Mel Brooke, mainly
thanks to a 48no in his first game where he stranded himself at the
non-strikers end, watching Pete Belwood take the last deliveries.
Significant contributions also came from Mike Roberts and Matt Guy
during their brief visits to the depths of 3rd XI cricket.
On the bowling front, there were only 2 qualifiers for the averages,
which backs up what was said earlier. Only yours truly with 15
wickets contributed as a true 3rd teamer. Mike Roberts also got 15
wickets in his 4 games, but he was clearly better than 3rd team and
rightly gravitated up the teams. Best performance was Mike’s 7 for
against Birkenhead. He also took a 6-for and Chan chipped in with an
explosive 5 for in his introductory game at Brooklands. It should be
recognised that it is very difficult for the young lads to
contribute with the ball given the restrictions placed on them in
terms of overs, but they do need to work on attacking lines and
wicket taking deliveries.
The state of the back square remains one of my major concerns as
regards 3rd team prospects. This year in particular was a poor one
with the repair work done at the end of 2006 being inadequate. I
know that Ron has given more attention to this in the last couple of
weeks and hopefully we will see at least an even grass covering next
year. Longer term we need to think about how we develop the square
and I know this will form part of our future planning.
Thanks are due to Roy for his roles in managing the selection
process, acting as my advisor-in-chief and introducing people to me
when I was presented with a new face on the team. Also I would like
to thank Mike Woodage for his efforts on the scoring front, before
being poached by Dave Madden for 1st team duties.
Finally after what has, in the main, been an enjoyable season for me
I would like to thank the rest of the squad for contributing to that
enjoyment. As some of you will know, I am stepping down from the
Captaincy for next year, so I would like to extend those thanks to
all who have played for me over the years. I have now done the job
for 5 consecutive years, and as we have willing volunteers to take
on the role, it is time to give someone else the chance to do it. I
wish my successor every success. I think I have left him with some
quality work in progress, with the potential to move the team
towards the top of the table. Hopefully he will still pick me to
play for the 3’s so that I can witness the development first hand.
Dave Garnett 21.9.07
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