Following the success of the 2002 season, resulting in the winning of the 4th division championship and promotion to the 3rd division for the first time since joining the D&C, the team were looking forward to the start of the 2003 season with great optimism. To date things have not progressed quite as planned…..

For the first few weeks of this season there has been a general player shortage, due a combination of retirements, year long trips to Oz, holidays, injuries, and exams, , resulting in as many as 5 of the promotion winning team from last season playing regularly in the 1st XI. This has certainly been a major factor in the team’s failure to win any of our opening fixtures. That is not to say that there have not been many positives to take from these matches, some our younger players in particular are beginning to show what they are made of.

After a dry, warm pre-season our first game away at Hawk Green was, of course, freezing cold with a bitter wind! Hawk Green elected to bat on winning the toss, and it is fair to say that Plan A didn’t work! A short boundary, great wicket, and fantastic hitting, led Hawk to 100-0 before the first 10 overs were up. By the time the 22nd over arrived Hawk had reached 222-2 with 22 overs to go and we were thinking we might be entering the record books! Plans B-F hadn’t produced the goods either. Chairman of Selectors, Barry Johnston, showing us why he is so suited to such a senior post, summoned all his experience, and ingeniously suggested, “we should try something they don’t like!!”.  After removing the two openers we actually managed to bring a degree of control to proceedings: Senior Pro Mellor, and Aidy Suthern bowling very well to restrict Hawk to 301-9. Despite it being the highest score I can remember us conceding, we were quite pleased to have kept it to that. Whilst never realistically threatening that total, we put together a more than respectable reply of 223-5. Andy Isaac made the first, and to date only half century of the season, finishing on 64, with Phil and “big” Dunc also making useful contributions.

So the season was underway – Mr. Mellor pulled several muscles, Aidy shouted at us, Andrew dropped another caught and bowled (0% success rate, buckets!), Dunc supplied midgets gems, Flinty swore a lot, and One Bounce Bradley was pole axed, and retired from glove work after just 20 overs! (Softlad). Was it really 8 months since the last time we did this?

The first home fixture saw Romiley visit MCC. Unfortunately we were only able to field a much weekend side, with only 10 men. Our three bowlers Aidy, Phil, and young Ayrton Fielding did a good job of restricting Romiley with some tight bowling. Ayrton took his first wicket of the season, and has been improving his left arm swing bowling every week: A promising player for the future. The game also marked the debut of Ayrton’s brother, 13-year-old Stefan Fielding. Stef marked his debut with a stunning catch and has since been a regular in the side. His is a batsman of enormous potential, and we are all looking forward to following his progress.

With the attack at least one bowler short, Romiley posted a strong target of 195-6. As at Hawk Green, we were unable to seriously threaten, finishing on 120 odd all out. Again, Senior Pro making a significant contribution.

Outstanding bowling from Aidy, backed up by excellent spells from Ayrton, and Mike Barlow reduced Birch to 80-9 before the rain came. The rain break allowed Birch to re-group and rethink their strategy, and a far more cautious approach nudged them to 140 all out, with promising leg-spinner Liam Wright wrapping up the innings. Liam is another of our young players who could make a big impact at first team level if he continues to progress. The time lost to rain meant that winning the game was an outside bet, and the loss of early wickets ruled this out completely. It was therefore a case of holding on for the draw. This we did, by the skin of our teeth, with Stef keeping out the last couple of overs showing maturity well beyond his years.

Rain accounted for the game against Dinting, and the following week saw by far our poorest performance away to Compstall. A combination of indiscipline bowling, and an excellent opening stand from Compstall' s two young openers, posting a score of 196-3. Our reply was equally disappointing, several poor shots leaving us on 98-8 at the close. Allen Bouchier proving that he is far more than just the tea man, top scoring at number 10 with a quick-fire 14 not out. He was well within his rights to point out to the captain that simple maths showed we would have won had he opened!

Our fixture against Newton has been perhaps the most disappointing, because there is no doubt we should have won. Another superb bowling performance, led by Ayrton Fielding with two wickets in his first over, backed up by the boy Mellor who snared another four wickets, and Big and Daft Windsor who produced an excellent spell of just under 7.5 overs 3 wickets for 5, reduced Newton to 90 all out. Again our batting let us down. A combination of some more poor shots, and some very bad luck, saw us bowled out for 82.

Our most recent game, away at Hayfield, was by far our most memorable, despite bringing another defeat. It was, after all, the return of the GIANT BAT! Having lost the toss, we started the game in the field, on a hot and sunny day with ten men, and only three bowlers (one of whom was still drunk!). Ayrton again picked up an early wicket before 11th man Baz arrived from golf, and more disciplined bowling had done well to restrict Hayfield to 130 odd for 3 with 10 overs left. However the hot weather took its toll on the bowlers, and Hayfield took advantage in the last ten overs finishing on 215-4.

Our reply did not get off to a great start with Flinty not quite getting the bat round the belly to be bowled early on, and Phil Mellor following soon after. John Marsden produced his most impressive innings of the season, then the real fun started once Barry arrived at the crease, firing several boundaries, including a huge six into the river. There still seemed little danger of us bothering Hayfield’s score however as Peter Jones, giant bat in hand, was joined by Stefan at the crease, with one wicket left. Runs flowed, and the large Hayfield crowd were beginning to get concerned. The last pair put on around 40 to take the score to 204, Peter making 28, and Stefan 15, (including a stunning square drive) before Stef was bowled, signalling the end of our challenge.

 The team were left in great spirits after the game, despite defeat, and it is certainly great to see that the morale has not been affected by this very tough start to the season. With key players beginning to return there is no reason that we cannot turn the season around.

Following the success of the 2002 season, resulting in the winning of the 4th division championship and promotion to the 3rd division for the first time since joining the D&C, the team were looking forward to the start of the 2003 season with great optimism. To date things have not progressed quite as planned…..

For the first few weeks of this season there has been a general player shortage, due a combination of retirements, year long trips to Oz, holidays, injuries, and exams, , resulting in as many as 5 of the promotion winning team from last season playing regularly in the 1st XI. This has certainly been a major factor in the team’s failure to win any of our opening fixtures. That is not to say that there have not been many positives to take from these matches, some our younger players in particular are beginning to show what they are made of.

After a dry, warm pre-season our first game away at Hawk Green was, of course, freezing cold with a bitter wind! Hawk Green elected to bat on winning the toss, and it is fair to say that Plan A didn’t work! A short boundary, great wicket, and fantastic hitting, led Hawk to 100-0 before the first 10 overs were up. By the time the 22nd over arrived Hawk had reached 222-2 with 22 overs to go and we were thinking we might be entering the record books! Plans B-F hadn’t produced the goods either. Chairman of Selectors, Barry Johnston, showing us why he is so suited to such a senior post, summoned all his experience, and ingeniously suggested, “we should try something they don’t like!!”.  After removing the two openers we actually managed to bring a degree of control to proceedings: Senior Pro Mellor, and Aidy Suthern bowling very well to restrict Hawk to 301-9. Despite it being the highest score I can remember us conceding, we were quite pleased to have kept it to that. Whilst never realistically threatening that total, we put together a more than respectable reply of 223-5. Andy Isaac made the first, and to date only half century of the season, finishing on 64, with Phil and “big” Dunc also making useful contributions.

So the season was underway – Mr. Mellor pulled several muscles, Aidy shouted at us, Andrew dropped another caught and bowled (0% success rate, buckets!), Dunc supplied midgets gems, Flinty swore a lot, and One Bounce Bradley was pole axed, and retired from glove work after just 20 overs! (Softlad). Was it really 8 months since the last time we did this?

The first home fixture saw Romiley visit MCC. Unfortunately we were only able to field a much weekend side, with only 10 men. Our three bowlers Aidy, Phil, and young Ayrton Fielding did a good job of restricting Romiley with some tight bowling. Ayrton took his first wicket of the season, and has been improving his left arm swing bowling every week: A promising player for the future. The game also marked the debut of Ayrton’s brother, 13-year-old Stefan Fielding. Stef marked his debut with a stunning catch and has since been a regular in the side. His is a batsman of enormous potential, and we are all looking forward to following his progress.

With the attack at least one bowler short, Romiley posted a strong target of 195-6. As at Hawk Green, we were unable to seriously threaten, finishing on 120 odd all out. Again, Senior Pro making a significant contribution.

Outstanding bowling from Aidy, backed up by excellent spells from Ayrton, and Mike Barlow reduced Birch to 80-9 before the rain came. The rain break allowed Birch to re-group and rethink their strategy, and a far more cautious approach nudged them to 140 all out, with promising leg-spinner Liam Wright wrapping up the innings. Liam is another of our young players who could make a big impact at first team level if he continues to progress. The time lost to rain meant that winning the game was an outside bet, and the loss of early wickets ruled this out completely. It was therefore a case of holding on for the draw. This we did, by the skin of our teeth, with Stef keeping out the last couple of overs showing maturity well beyond his years.

Rain accounted for the game against Dinting, and the following week saw by far our poorest performance away to Compstall. A combination of indiscipline bowling, and an excellent opening stand from Compstall' s two young openers, posting a score of 196-3. Our reply was equally disappointing, several poor shots leaving us on 98-8 at the close. Allen Bouchier proving that he is far more than just the tea man, top scoring at number 10 with a quick-fire 14 not out. He was well within his rights to point out to the captain that simple maths showed we would have won had he opened!

Our fixture against Newton has been perhaps the most disappointing, because there is no doubt we should have won. Another superb bowling performance, led by Ayrton Fielding with two wickets in his first over, backed up by the boy Mellor who snared another four wickets, and Big and Daft Windsor who produced an excellent spell of just under 7.5 overs 3 wickets for 5, reduced Newton to 90 all out. Again our batting let us down. A combination of some more poor shots, and some very bad luck, saw us bowled out for 82.

Our most recent game, away at Hayfield, was by far our most memorable, despite bringing another defeat. It was, after all, the return of the GIANT BAT! Having lost the toss, we started the game in the field, on a hot and sunny day with ten men, and only three bowlers (one of whom was still drunk!). Ayrton again picked up an early wicket before 11th man Baz arrived from golf, and more disciplined bowling had done well to restrict Hayfield to 130 odd for 3 with 10 overs left. However the hot weather took its toll on the bowlers, and Hayfield took advantage in the last ten overs finishing on 215-4.

Our reply did not get off to a great start with Flinty not quite getting the bat round the belly to be bowled early on, and Phil Mellor following soon after. John Marsden produced his most impressive innings of the season, then the real fun started once Barry arrived at the crease, firing several boundaries, including a huge six into the river. There still seemed little danger of us bothering Hayfield’s score however as Peter Jones, giant bat in hand, was joined by Stefan at the crease, with one wicket left. Runs flowed, and the large Hayfield crowd were beginning to get concerned. The last pair put on around 40 to take the score to 204, Peter making 28, and Stefan 15, (including a stunning square drive) before Stef was bowled, signalling the end of our challenge.

 The team were left in great spirits after the game, despite defeat, and it is certainly great to see that the morale has not been affected by this very tough start to the season. With key players beginning to return there is no reason that we cannot turn the season around.