Sawley & Long Eaton Park Juniors playing report 2004
by David Dooley, 21st November 2004

To suggest we could repeat our considerably achievements of 2003 would have been considered by many to be over optimistic. Yet we did repeat many of those successes and some might argue overall exceeded the feats of last season.

The U17s took their summer form of 2003 into the JB Sports Centre Indoor League championship easily winning the title and along the way defeating several eminent clubs including the Nottinghamshire teams of Caythorpe and Radcliffe-on-Trent.

To retain a championship can prove very difficult with opposition teams responding to the challenge, and that proved to be the case during the summer. Nevertheless our U17 team still managed to finish runners-up in the Erewash Young Cricketers’ League which contains many cricketers who are already representing their clubs 1st XI. In retrospect the title was lost in the early weeks of the season. Although the team finished with a string of successes Nutbrook managed to hold off our challenge with the title undecided until the last round of matches in August. Michael Richards can be proud of their performance with many playing regularly for senior teams and making significant contributions to the promotion success of several of our senior teams.

The U15s also won their indoor league championship in the winter at the JB Sports Centre. Yet they struggled in the outdoor summer championship to make an impact, although the cup competition saw them discover their best form defeating Ockbrook and Borrowash in the final. Knock out competitions seemed to capture the imagination of this squad and its management team of Justin and Sue Burton, because they also swept to victory in the annual Erewash six-a-side tournament played on West Park during the summer. A sensational performance in the final saw them brush aside a strong Elvaston team from South Derbyshire. Another encouraging aspect of this team is that two members played for the 1st XI in the Derbyshire Premier League during the season acquitting themselves extremely well.

The decision to play two teams in the EYCL U15 league paid dividends, not just because it provided cricket for an enthusiastic band of young cricketers, but because it provided the senior teams with another reservoir of talent to call upon to help their league campaigns. Paul Brown’s very special relationship with his squad of players resulted in several outstanding results especially the win against local rivals Risley who approach games against Sawley as if they were championship finals. It is also of interest to note that no other club in the locality is strong enough or well organised enough to field two competitive teams in this competition.

The U13s followed the example of their elders and stormed to the indoor championship which in their case contained enough teams to form two divisions. At every age group the club now has competitive teams, another feature that is unique to the club’s junior section in East Derbyshire. The U13s propelled the club into the national spotlight when after over coming fixtures against Quorndon, Staveley and Denby they became Derbyshire champions. In possibly their most disappointing performance of the season they lost to the Cheshire champions Grappenhall during a rain interrupted match at Disley CC in North West Derbyshire.

In the local league progress was impeded by a talented Ockbrook and Borrowash team although the 11-a-side play off final nearly saw our U13s avenge a defeat in the, earlier in the season, 8-a-side competition. This age group sees three club teams competing successfully illustrating the depth of talent the club is developing. As the 8-a-side season reached a conclusion any one of our three teams could have qualified for the play off finals. Justin Burton, Sue Burton, Ian Peberday, Martin Richards and Paul Anderson can be very satisfied with the development of the players in their respective squads.

The U11s were perhaps the team of the season. They used the indoor season to practice their skills and swept all before them in a memorable outdoor season for Michael Hopkins and his squad. Locally no other team seriously threatened their unbeaten record as they clinched the double, winning the league championship by a considerably margin and securing the cup with a comprehensive win over Spondon. They nearly repeated this success in the Midland Club Conference Championships. They won their regional final at Modershall CC in Staffordshire before losing to the eventual winners Wolverhampton CC by a mere seven runs at Wolverhampton. The experiment to play another team in the EYCL U11 hard ball league was undoubted another success as they finished third securing notable wins over the top teams from West Hallam and Sandiacre.

Yet perhaps the most satisfying performance came from Nigel Anderson and Michael Cockayne’s Kwik cricketers. After a slow start they slowly began moving up the league table. Then in the final week they secured the runners-up position in the local group nudging Long Eaton into third place. Our appearance in the play off finals was a welcome bonus but more good news followed as we defeated the champions of the northern group, Breadsall, to reach the final. In an entertaining grand final Spondon pinched the title by just five runs.

The club once again wholeheartedly embraced county and district cricket not least because it provided further expert coaching and some tough fixtures. This year twelve juniors played for either Nottingham shire or Derbyshire, including two girls, and another twelve played district cricket for Erewash.

It is also appropriate to acknowledge in this report the second successful season for the 4th XI in Division 7S of the Derbyshire County Cricket League. Captained by Justin Burton it again provided juniors with the opportunity to enjoy serious senior league cricket. Finally the club made the brave decision to enter a senior team in the Newark Club Cricket Alliance knowing that plenty of juniors would be keen to sample senior cricket but without any senior member indicating a willingness to captain and organise the team. On average this Sunday XI containing six or seven juniors would had not played in a senior team on the previous Saturday. A variety of senior players supported the team who enjoyed a number of valuable development games although without the commitment of Michael Richards the initiative might well have floundered.

Without these two teams talented juniors might be tempted to join other local clubs. Thankfully the days of the junior section developing players for other clubs is over.

Junior members at every age group have had a successful season by whatever measure you choose to apply – every individual should be proud of their contribution to that success.