The close season saw the club lose some of our best players, Tom Lease and Dom Ducellier to name but two. This weakened all the adult teams somewhat but gave others the opportunity to step up a level and some to take on extra responsibility. We also welcomed back an old friend with the return of Neil Jones who managed to squeeze in a few games in between getting married . hopefully Neil will be around more next year.
Up until the last few weeks of the season we were chasing the leaders all the way however, as with previous years, our challenge fell away as teams were disrupted to prevent relegation of the 2nd and 3rd sides. A worthy cause but ultimately frustrating to end up 7th and below teams we know to be our inferiors. Southern League accreditation or not we must aim to win Division 1 as this can only help us attract new players in order for all our teams to progress.
Batting wise Matt Journeux and Pete Hammond scored over 1000 runs between them and everyone else scored important runs throughout the season - notably Freddie who got a couple of important fifties.
Bowling wise the two spinners were as effective as ever with Freddie and Danny picking up 25 wickets and the pace trio of Pete Hammond, Joe Humby and Myself managed to claim 36 victims. Joe was the surprise package of the year coming up from the seconds after Sean O'Toole's injury and improving with every game. Hopefully his shoulder will be fully healed in time for next season to continue where he left off.
Fielding really was a problem this year. Ground fielding was superb all season but we all managed to drop a few throughout the year - some that cost us and some that didn't. Either way it is an area we must improve if we are to challenge strongly next year.
Although the last month of the season wasn't a great success, there were some positives. The performances of Danny Millward, while Simon Orr dropped down to strengthen the 2nds and 3rds, was very encouraging and Craig Raddon fielded well his bowling showed some promise. Sean O'Toole showed in the first game his potential. Hopefully his injury problems can be put behind him . a winter off can only help.
Performance of the year was the win at South Wilts. Fantastic batting, great fielding and good bowling against a team that will be playing Southern League cricket next year. On the flip side of that win was the defeat against Portsmouth and Southsea which showed all our deficiencies.
Overall our team spirit and performances were great and I can't wait for next season to get going.
