Hosiery Mills lead the way
by Paul Barker, 29th June 2004

The centenary season of the league has certainly provided some exciting matches in the top section as we conclude the first half and only one side, MANSFIELD HOSIERY MILLS have shown the type of consistent form it needs to lift the title trophy at the end of the campaign.

The Hosiery Mills are the only side to have completed half their fixtures without a defeat. This is down to astute captaincy from Mark Langford and a never-say-die attitude from the players who never know when they are beat.

Not everything in their garden looked rosy at the start of the campaign with Nolan McKenzie their brilliant West Indian all rounder leaving to join the West Indian Cavaliers on virtually the eve of the season and the superb top order batsmen Jonathan Smaill now residing in Australia. Jonathan Best a more than useful all rounder also decided to play his cricket a little nearer to his home in Yorkshire .

However with the acquisition of Jason Gorman from Kimberley Institute, Hosiery Mills pulled off a master stroke. Gorman who is well known in this area for his match winning exploits with Blidworth a few years ago has proved a tremendous signing with both bat and ball.

In addition to this Tom New who is on the staff at Leicestershire C.C. has returned to play some cricket for them which seems to be every match, and others to join them include Matt Millns a young all rounder who is getting better by the minute plus Mark Curtis and Adam Walker.

Their overseas star Sri-Lankan Asela Jayasinghe has turned in consistent performances with both bat and ball and others such as Clive Graham and Jeff Appleton have shown how much strength there is in the side.

However it is that indomitable fighting spirit that they have shown that has made them the team of the season so far. Matches against Thoresby Colliery and Farnsfield could easily have gone against them but skipper Langford and Gorman turned the game against Thoresby and a magnificent unbeaten century by Gorman did likewise against Farnsfield.

They go into the second half of the season 34 points to the good over second place Kiveton Park which is quite a healthy lead, but they do need to beware and rule against over confidence. It is a well known fact that every team suffers a blip in form somewhere during a season and whilst most of the chasing pack has had theirs, Hosiery Mills have shown nothing like suffering one yet. It might yet happen and it will be interesting to see how they cope if it does.

KIVETON PARK appear to be the main rivals and are neatly tucked in behind Hosiery Mills in second place at the moment. Not much movement amongst players takes place at this homely club who have a flourishing youth system which produces a tremendous amount of talented players for the club.

This season they brought back the brilliant Australian import Ryan Snape who served them so well in season 2001 and he has already done the business again this season with a succession of big scores which have got his side away to magnificent starts.

In addition to Snape they have the hugely talented Adam Burgess and other tremendous youngsters which include Lee Brooks, Kyle McKeeman and the prodigious talent of 15 year old Phil Cooper who is surely going to make his mark at a much higher level in the future.

Richard Spurr and Jim Radford have produced the goods with the ball and the whole unit which is superbly led by Rob Coxon look capable of dealing with any side on their day. They were the side who came nearest to inflicting defeat on the Hosiery Mills falling just a single run short as Adam Burgess attempted a big hit to win it on the final ball and got out instead.

However they are in a small crisis at the moment having lost amazingly to lowly Blidworth and Cutthorpe who they had thrashed earlier in their last two matches. Whether they can last the pace remains to be seen, but they are certainly a very interesting team who will get better and better. Of that there is no doubt.

A new team combined from two older ones Notts. Amateur and Arnold formed to give the long and laborious name of NOTTS. & ARNOLD AMATEUR and after a cracking start to the season people were hailing them as likely champions. They were rather premature however as three straight defeats coming to the interval took away that aura of invincibility.

Justin Foss an Australian who served Arnold very well last season has returned and so far has done an amazing job with both bat and ball. Ian Flood who has served the Arnold side well over the seasons has also had his moments scoring runs and taking wickets and slow bowler Andy Rann has made his presence felt on numerous occasions.

They do look to be a little susceptible with the bat however but that might be being a little unkind to them. They went to Cutthorpe and knocked off a huge score and only lost two wickets in the process but on other occasions they have struggled against teams such as Worksop who went down by just two wickets after scoring a modest 161 runs themselves.

No criticism as regards their batting can be levelled against Julian Thornhill however who has had a season to remember up to now. Thornhill has made some huge scores and was unbeaten on 88 when the memorable win over Cutthorpe was achieved. We will have to wait and see what happens, but at the moment Notts. & Arnold Amateurs look to be just a little off the pace.

The team which has shocked everyone is CUTTHORPE who started the season like an express train and then the wheels fell off with four consecutive defeats. They are now back in the groove but whether they are capable of making up what they have lost is open to question.

At the start of the season they were not just beating teams they were annihilating them by huge margins with Andy Thompson, Chris Marples and Asadullah Butt all scoring a host of runs. They destroyed Farnsfield by ten wickets and Bridon by eight wickets and it looked as though nobody was capable of living with them. However on the 29 th May came the defeat against Notts. & Arnold Amateur and from then it all went very wrong. Consecutive defeats followed against Kiveton Park , Edwinstowe and Thoresby Colliery and it had one thinking the unthinkable that they would soon be amongst the relegation candidates, but a morale boosting ten wicket victory over Kiveton Park has put them back on the right track.

Whether they can regain that invincible look is open to question, but it has surprised everyone how they collapsed so suddenly when looking so dominant.

CUCKNEY who virtually lost a whole team in the close season have had an amazingly good first half. This is due in no small way to their Australian import from Melbourne, Dave Newman who has impressed everyone with his all round ability which has been of the highest order.

Credit is due to the Cuckney club because what happened there would have destroyed many clubs but they have regrouped, got themselves back together and put a bad dream behind them. Ably led by Dean Sayer excellent performances have also come from the highly talented all rounder Paul Gurnell who has returned to the club this season, Will Montgomery , Simon Shipp and Andy Stephenson.

The main man however has been Newman and the club are extremely pleased with his contributions so far. They should be because this guy seems to be one of the best imports to have graced the league over the last few seasons and is certainly doing the business for his side.

Relegated from the Premier League and in danger of losing their ground to development 1980s giants, BRIDON have had a most satisfactory first half to the season considering all their problems. Gareth Jones the skipper of the magnificent side which won the league six times in the 80s was apprehensive at the start of the campaign saying that if the side could hold their own this season it was as much as one could expect.

They have more than done this with six outright wins out of the first twelve matches and astutely led by Simon Fenwick have really surprised everyone.

Rob McLeod who has been such a stalwart for the club for many years now has already made a couple of centuries for them and Rob Smart and Australian import Justin Miller have done their bit with the ball. This is the nice sort of story that one likes to hear and it is to be hoped that Bridon can keep up their successful start after all the blows they have taken.

WORKSOP started the season with high hopes and have flattered to deceive at times. They are a more than useful side on their day and strengthened their promoted side considerably when they signed Richard Grainger from Kiveton Park and Steve Bentley from Bridon plus the New Zealand pace bowler Brad Moore.

They look to be a side who are capable of beating anyone on their day, but could also lose to the bottom club on another. The ability is definitely there but consistency doesn’t appear in their vocabulary at the moment. However they do have a crop of fine players such as Glen Pym, Paul Burton and Tim Ward who are capable of doing the business as is Jamil Hassan who has shown good form throughout the season. Don’t write them off they could end up winning something before the season ends.

If their bowling was anything like as good as their batting, THORESBY COLLIERY would surely be close to the top of the league by now. Skipper Martin Cheshire has had a sensational season scoring well over 500 runs already and Paul Hughes must surely be the most cultured batsmen in the league. Australian import Jonathan Hill has done the business with both bat and ball, but they have made big scores and still lost and that must be worrying.

Occasionally their batting fails like when Worksop bowled them out for just 33, but all in all they look a good mid-table side who will occasionally pull off a shock result and never be in any danger.

GLAPWELL after a season or two of struggle look infinitely stronger this campaign. New Zealand import Ian O’Brien has made his mark with both bat and ball and new skipper Andy Smith has had an excellent first half to the campaign.

They are a side who are likely to throw a spanner into the works of the top clubs and nobody will relish facing them later in the season. They now have Matthew Hall back and his presence will be a big plus for them in the second half of the season.

The most inconsistent side in the league has to be FARNSFIELD and one never knows which side will turn up. They have some excellent players such as James Bennett, skipper Andy Edwards, Paul Delaney, Kiwi import Mark Silcock, Keith Miller etc., but seem totally incapable of putting a run together.

They will however shock one of the leaders before the season is through that is absolutely certain and they won’t be involved in the relegation dog fight, they are much too good for that! They are however one of the most exasperating teams that the league has ever produced.

BOLSOVER once again have the brilliant Tariq Rashid playing for them and he is capable of winning a match on his own as Glapwell found out to their cost recently when he made an unbeaten 141. They also have ex Killamarsh skipper Mark Bull in their ranks and an astute leader in Charlie Walker.

They are probably stronger now than they have been for a season or two but need to string some results together to move away from the bottom before they get stuck there.

After being relegated from the Premier League last term, BLIDWORTH look as though they might suffer the same fate again this time. They have had a shocking first half to the season with some dire performances plus the incredible win over Kiveton Park which was totally unexpected.

They are building on youth and if they can produce another crop like Ritchie Gibbons, Dave Donaldson, Richard Price etc., the future could be rosy. They may have to go down again before they start to climb.

EDWINSTOWE have after a poor start done much better than many would have expected. Although they lie in bottom place, they have won at Cutthorpe which was totally unexpected. In Australian Garth Brown they certainly have a very good player and skipper Jon Garnham, Brett Hallam and Ian Smith have performed well for them this season.

They didn’t help themselves in the first few matches when a little more aggression instead of negativity might have gained them some more valuable points but that lesson has been learned and digested now and we will have to wait and see what the future holds.