Dave Stewart

The Mighty Muzza

Tom Guy's 2004 review

The 2004 season turned out to be the opposite of 2003, as the first team had a fantastic year and deservedly won promotion, whereas the seconds performed way below potential and ended up in mid-table. Well done boys and best of luck in division one.

At the start of the season we didn’t really know what to expect, and would probably have been happy to consolidate and finish in mid-table. It may be no bad thing that we did just that, but having seen the standard of the division, there is no doubt that a team of our ability should have been pushing for promotion. We could blame bad luck for failing to do so, as we suffered at the hands of the weather and dodgy umpires, but at the end of the day, you make your own luck and the league table never lies (cliches but true). A maximum points tally from the final 3 games hauled us from relegation danger to the top half, but that shouldn’t gloss over the inadequacies that had left us in that position.

Stan had a prolific season, finishing as the league’s top batsman with 610 runs at 68, but none of the other batsmen scored heavily. Without him we probably would have gone down. All 5 of our victories were built around a substantial partnership between junior and senior Purcell, not scoring quickly but leaving wickets in hand for an acceleration in the last ten overs. Hopefully the youngsters in the team will learn that occupation of the crease is vital; the team should score more runs next year as they will be more experienced. This time last year I said that it would be nice to see more colts in the second team, and that is what happened. Most of the people that played regularly were recently playing for the colts. Next season Cymbals, Bryan, Matt, Seb, George and Will should be a year better.

Although there were clear weaknesses in the batting that will need to be sorted out, we looked like a better bowling and fielding side than most others in the league. Tidy continued to bowl exactly as he did the previous year, taking 35 wickets at 15, always keeping an end tied down, and George had an impressive first season in league cricket. We tended to have a surplus of bowling options and it was often difficult to give everyone a game, which is a nice problem to have. Everyone who bowled did so well: they knew they had to or they would get taken off. We also fielded well generally, although there were some sloppy weeks. Most notably, Simon set a superb example of 100% commitment in the field, chasing everything down, backing everything up and firing accurate throws into the gloves. Bryan’s arm was underestimated by the 6 batsmen he ran out. On the last day, everything clicked as we turned in a brilliant bowling and fielding display, catching everything including an absolute blinder from Cymbals. Nearly all the batsmen were got out rather than getting themselves out. That is what we need to produce more regularly in 2005.

One reason for finishing lower than we could have done is a lack of continuity. We were unable to name an unchanged lineup at any stage of the season. If everyone had been available there would have been some extremely difficult selection problems. In 2003 our success was built around a settled side, but this year people were in and out. A consequence of this instability was that batsmen were unable to get used to a certain position in the batting order as they were constantly moved about. My inexperience as captain also cost us some points: for example, we should have batted first on a hot day against bottom side Farningham on a flat wicket, and should have got 20 points, and I messed the batting order up against Hythe, which may have cost us the game.

In order to improve, we can learn from the first team’s success. Most of the players that played for the 2s also played for the 1s at some point during the season, and they agree that the first team dressing room is a great place to be. It makes a huge difference to team cohesion when everyone is such good mates. To achieve that, more people need to come back to the club more often after a game, and we need someone to do the fines properly next year. We also need to turn up for matches like we’re there for a game of cricket- it’s no coincidence that we fielded so well on the last day having had a proper warmup for the first time.

All in all, an ok first season in division 2, but next year we should be aiming for promotion.