Marshfield CC 2nd XI Captains Report – Season 2019

First of all I would like to congratulate Pat, James and the 1^st XI on their well-deserved promotion. Sadly the 2^nd XI were unable to perform to such high standards and with a playing record of W5, L11 and 2 cancelled finished joint bottom of the table, with White Horse finishing ahead of us based on points scored in the head to head matches.

The first half of the season was a massive struggle and with 9 straight defeats meant we were always fighting to climb up the league. The slow start to the season was largely down to the lack of availabilities through a combination of injury, studies, and more players being available on a less regular basis which resulted in a failure to put out consistently strong sides. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than our season low point when we could only muster 10 players for the away fixture at Bradford on Avon, including a willing dad recruited after Friday night junior training and perhaps after one too many glasses of Morretti! Together with poor availability, a lack of form from a number of players and some bad luck also contributed to our slow start. However, there are no excuses and we simply did not play well enough in what was a competitive league. Our performance improved considerably in the second half of the season with much improved availabilities and a sprinkling of players from the 1^st team squad, and a spirited run-in saw us win 5 of our last 7 games to narrowly miss out on avoiding the drop.

Final League Table

The match between Bradford Town and Trowbridge 2 has been voided by the league management committee following a serious injury to one of the players. 13 points compensation for the lost fixture have been awarded to each side. 6 points deducted from Lacock due to a level 3 offence by one of their players prior to the season.

Unlike recent seasons scoring runs was something of an issue and for the first half of the season we were unable to regularly post competitive totals or chase down targets. Matt Watson provided some stability at the top of the order to lead the run scoring with 444 runs including 4 50’s. Elsewhere 50’s were scored by Dan Watson on three occasions, Kev Hendy twice and newcomer Tom Andrew. However, the batting highlight of the year was undoubtedly Russell Lodge’s magnificent 175 not out in the final game of the season.

Batting Stats

Similarly to the batting, the bowling also struggled and taking wickets, especially early in the innings was a problem. The appearances of Tom Lamb later in the season helped to address this and he finished with 16 wickets in just 6 games. His ability to take early wickets and build up scoreboard pressure early in the innings was a major factor in the turnaround of the season. Tom was pipped to the board by Matt Watson with 17 victims to his wily spin.  Both Tom (twice) and Matt took a four wicket haul, together with Will Pascall and Harry Steele.

Bowling Stats

In a difficult season, one of the pluses was the introduction into senior cricket of some of the talented under 15 players. Harvey Vellacott and Josh Gay both appeared for the 2s and performed well, hopefully  this will continue next year.  2019 was undoubtedly a disappointment but with better and more consistent availabilities I am confident that we can bounce back quickly and can realistically aim for promotion back to Division 3 next year.

Finally I would like to thank everybody who make playing cricket possible. Massive thanks to Andy Pierce for his work in helping to prepare the pitches and all those working behind the scenes to make cricket possible. Thanks go to Belinda and her tea ladies/ men for continually providing excellent teas.  As ever, special thanks to our unsung heroes of Julie Hendy and Mike Threadgill for their scoring and umpiring duties. Thanks to Ben White for his efforts to organise the teams, to Kev Hendy for his support and help as vice captain and finally thanks to all who played for their support.

Thank you

 Colin Sinkins