Captain's Report


4th Team Captain's Report 2006

The 4ths had a fine season after a poor start. Early defeats ultimately left too big a hill to climb, after a run of seven straight victories had put the team in with a chance of promotion. The team's bowling was its strength with several teams saying it was the strongest in the division. The Captain was consistent and tidy, Tom Clark developed rapidly into a quick new ball bowler and Ian Clark picked up wickets cheaply. Particularly pleasing was the performance of the other young bowlers: Dominic Hammond, David Dunkley, Jamie Fletcher and Rob Gibbens all bowled tidily for the 4ths. Special mention should be made of Martin Lander who bowled extremely well and with great control during the promotion chase at the end of the season. The only downside was the absence of a spinner.

The batting in truth is weak and the 4ths had one of the lowest batting points totals. Sean O'Toole obviously made a massive difference and was by a distance the best batsman in the division. Ian Clark also played sensibly and well, and, with Sean twice put on over 150 for the first wicket. Although the rest of the batting was patchy there were some good performances: Tom Clark showed he will soon be too good to be batting for the 4ths, and his 35* to guide the team to a victory against Purbrook IV was a very mature performance. The Skipper cracked a good league 50 and Mark Hansford, Hannah Clark, Stuart Raddon and Mike Garner all improved as the season went on.

The fielding was also patchy . not surprisingly because the team often had .young colts. and .old gits. in equal measure. Special mention here to Harriet Ruff whose two excellent catches against Emsworth II effectively won the game.

Probably the highlight of the season was the team spirit. There was rarely any backbiting or indiscipline, and the colts that played (we often had three or four in the team) were a credit to the Club.

Overall a season that went much better than expected and a team that bonded well to give our colts a chance to improve their cricket.