Bassetlaw Cricket League review of the season 2004
by Paul Barker, 6th October 2004

After a brief foray at the top of the table in early May, Mansfield Hosiery Mills finally took up permanent residence in that spot on Saturday 5 th June and at no time did anyone else look like overtaking them as the season closed on September 11 th with them having a massive 76 points to spare at the end.

In fact they almost emulated Retford’s performance of going through the season unbeaten in 2003 only losing a single match to their bogey side Thoresby Colliery as late as Saturday 28 th August! By the same token they actually managed to gain 383 points to Retford’s 359, a remarkable feat considering the difference in weather conditions throughout the two seasons.

In many ways the Groundsmen were the outstanding personalities of the 2004 campaign. The weather produced one of the foulest Summer’s on record but the one saving grace was that most of the rain fell mid-week and the weekends were not as bad. However this meant a lot of work needed doing and most of the pitches quite understandably were bowler friendly with wet and soggy conditions.

One fellow who deserves immense credit for the wickets produced is Eckington’s Chris Drury who provided some astonishingly good strips considering the conditions. In ten completed matches on the Eckington ground in Division 2, a total of 3868 runs were scored, in other words almost 400 runs per match a remarkable achievement and a glowing testimony to Chris who deserves all the plaudits going.

It just goes to show what can be achieved when someone puts their heart and soul into preparing a ground and others should follow this wonderful example which has been put before them.

As we stated earlier low scores were the norm in several matches and many grounds were soggy almost all throughout the season. One can only wish and hope for better weather when next years campaign begins.

However back to where we started and the champions received some shocking news just before the season started when the brilliant West Indian Nolan McKenzie decided to join the West Indian Cavaliers. McKenzie had scored 732 runs at 56.31 and taken 46 wickets at 14.87 in 2003 and anyone who thought that a player of this standard wouldn’t be missed could only be described as a simpleton. However incredibly enough the Hosiery Mills had more than compensated for his loss by signing Jason Gorman who had been with Kimberley Institute in the Nottinghamshire Premier League the past few seasons.

Gorman was well known in the area having played with Blidworth and his wonderfully accurate line and length bowling was without doubt going to be a decided asset to the Hosiery Mills. What one didn’t know was that in his time at Kimberley his batting had improved beyond anybody’s fantasies and he showed in no uncertain circumstances what a fine all rounder he had become even contributing a blistering unbeaten 110 as his side knocked off a big total at Farnsfield.

Yes Gorman was a major player as the side who have threatened over the last few years finally put everything together and were practically unstoppable. Tom New and Dave Loveridge were a more than capable opening pairing and Jeff Appleton, the hard hitting Sam Butler and the inspirational skipper Mark Langford all put together massive scores throughout the season.

The other major player is the sad part of the story. Asela Jayasinghe (K. C. has he is known) will not be eligible to play for them next season owing to the Nottinghamshire Premier League rules. He has been a major asset over the past two seasons scoring consistently with the bat and taking a good haul of wickets as well. No doubt about it he will be missed.

Squad players such as Clive Graham and that amazing stalwart Steve Brown also had their moments throughout the season which without doubt was the club’s most memorable one ever!

Strangely enough the newly formed Notts. & Arnold Amateur finished as runners-up despite losing exactly a third of their matches during the season. They started off like an express train and when they thrashed Cutthorpe by an astonishing eight wickets they looked likely champions. Nobody could get near them in the first eight matches of the season and they only time they failed to win was when no play was possible when they should have played Bridon on Saturday 8 th May.

Come June however and a completely different picture started to take shape. Facing Cuckney at Langwith Road , they came unstuck big style losing by six wickets and from this moment on they looked more like a side which were being haunted by relegation. Gone was the confidence gained in the opening salvo as they lost emphatically to Farnsfield, Mansfield Hosiery Mills, suffered two more rain draws and then the defeats started rolling again this time against Bolsover, before recording a six wicket win at Thoresby Colliery on Saturday 17 th July.

Not that they were short of quality players. The Australian Justin Foss who had done well for them in 2003 again did the business with both bat and ball, Ian Flood who has turned in great performances for them over many years, Andy Rann early in the season proved unplayable on occasions and Julian Thornhill had one amazing patch of form where it looked a virtual impossibility to bowl him out.

They occasionally looked as though they might be returning to their early season form but on Saturday 21 st August they suffered real humiliation when they were bowled out for just 29 by Glapwell at Park Avenue and were soundly thrashed by nine wickets. To their eternal credit they recovered from this savaging by completing the double over Cutthorpe and followed that up by seeing off the challenge of Worksop before losing to the Hosiery Mills and winning against Farnsfield.

Incredibly enough one would think that they will be a threat again next season, but they were certainly a side who when they were ‘hot’ they were very ‘hot’ and when they were cold, they simply ‘froze’, in 2004.

Kiveton Park finished in third place and all in all had a highly creditable season. They led the table briefly early in the season and in Adam Burgess and Australian Ryan Snape had arguably the best opening pairing in the league. Both these players produced the goods on numerous occasions and in addition Kiveton have a whole host of highly talented young players such as Phil Cooper, Andy Marsh and Lee Brooks to name a few and were astutely led by Rob Coxon who weighed in with some good scores himself. In the bowling category Richard Spurr was his usual accurate self and his opening bowling partner Kyle McKeeman also showed a maturity way beyond his young years.

Ian Thompson and Ryan Snape provided the variations with some excellent slow bowling and all in all the club had a very good season which they will hope to emulate next term as the younger players mature even more.

If before a ball was struck one had to name the potential champions 99% would have opted for Cutthorpe and they started off the campaign by slaughtering every team put in front of them. It looked a one horse race until the 29 th May when Notts. & Arnold Amateurs arrived at the Recreation Ground with a similar record and everyone thought this is the ‘big one’ and whoever comes out on top in this will surely be the major threat to everyone this season.

Cutthorpe batted well reaching 211 for 9 when their overs ran out, but Notts. & Arnold batted even better reaching 214 for 2 with Julian Thornhill who was having a tremendous run of form at the time being unbeaten on 88. At this moment in time Notts. & Arnold must have been clear favourites but a fortnight later their wheels fell off in spectacular fashion.

Cutthorpe couldn’t pull it round and in addition to this defeat they lost the next three as well to completely blight their season. It shouldn’t have happened with players of the calibre of Andy Thompson, Chris Marples and Asadullah Butt in their side but it did. Sometimes things do not go as you expect them too and this was one of those cases. Cutthorpe from looking like a side who were invincible suddenly looked like mere mortals, something they had never looked like before.

Having taken all this into consideration they would still have finished runners-up to Mansfield Hosiery Mills had they not been deducted eight points by the league disciplinary committee for a player’s indiscriminate actions on the field. Food for thought, one thinks and more is available on this subject later in this review.

Finishing in a highly satisfactory fifth position in the league was Farnsfield who for the last few seasons have been the ‘nearly’ side. Things looked to be going the same way again this season but in the second half of the campaign they at last showed what a talented bunch of players they are and had a good run to the end of the season.

Astutely led by Andy Edwards, Farnsfield had recruited two players from neighbouring Bilsthorpe in Dave Bell who made his impression later on in the season and Neil Sharpe who arrived with a bang taking 5 for 38 in the opening match at the Hosiery Mills. New Zealander Mark Silcock had his best term with the club taking a regular supply of wickets and making a century against Blidworth in the penultimate match of the season.

In addition to this Paul Delaney, James Bennett and the return of Graham Bramley made a huge impact and the batting looked far more solid than in recent years. Paul Franks played on numerous occasions and the Nottinghamshire star made an impact with both bat and ball. One gets the impression that after a lull, Farnsfield are coming back strongly and perhaps they could be a major threat next time. They look more solid all round and it would be remiss if there was no mention of left arm slow bowler Keith Miller who took 9 for 67 in a superb virtuoso performance at Bolsover early in the season.

Glapwell who had tampered with relegation over the past few seasons had a great campaign and were a major threat to everyone throughout. Their shining light was the New Zealand pace bowler Ian O’Brien who took nearly 50 wickets in the last ten matches, a remarkable feat! All the side battled hard as new skipper Andy Smith turned them into a team of warriors who were capable of troubling the best on their day.

Dean Graney had his best season for a long while and contributed with both bat and ball and Nick Truswell came back to his best after suffering niggling injuries which hampered his progress over the past few years. Lee Topham and Rob Davison also showed what they were capable of and with more consistency this pair could be a major asset for many years to come.

Glapwell look to have a healthy future and if they can keep the players they have and draft in a few more they can become a major force in the forthcoming years.

One club who in the 1980s were the scourge of every side in the league winning the title on no fewer than six occasions is Bridon who were relegated back to the Bassetlaw League after being founder members of the Nottinghamshire Premier League.

The club are going through troubled times with their future being in doubt owing to uncertainty over their ground at Ordsall. They looked forward to their return to the league with trepidation and a spokesman for the club said at the start of the season ‘If we can hold our own, we will have done everything we set out for’. ‘We don’t expect to pull too many trees up, but the spirit is there and we shall just have to do our best’.

On top of this several players left the club leaving a nucleus of promising but untried youngsters plus loyal stalwarts such as the ageless Gareth Jones who captained them to the triumphs in the 80s and Rob McLeod. Simon Fenwick skippered the side and Australian Justin Miller was a lively customer with the ball in his hand.

In the end they recorded eleven outright wins the fourth best tally in the division and finished comfortably in mid-table. Bridon considering their position certainly did well and could feel extremely proud of themselves at the end of the season.

Cuckney were another team in turmoil at the start of the season and did very well considering what had happened in the close season. They had lost virtually a whole team from the previous season, but some shrewd recruiting and a fellow who must lay claim to being one of the best overseas all-rounder the league has seen for some time, Australian Dave Newman made sure that they enjoyed a most satisfactory season.

Captained by Dean Sayer an always dependable campaigner, Cuckney opened with a winning draw against Bolsover and were then soundly beaten by Cutthorpe. However in the Cutthorpe match, Newman made 113 and set the tone for the season. Paul Gurnell a high class slow bowler returned to the club and with some very talented younger players such as Simon Shipp, Will Montgomery and the 15 year old Daniel Brown their prospects for the future are looking bright once again.

With facilities like Cuckney possess, they should not have much trouble attracting players to the club and this is another side who look to have a bright future ahead of them.

A team who flatter to deceive on many occasions is Thoresby Colliery, but they did make their mark in 2004 winning the Tomlin Trophy K.O. Cup and being the only side to beat Mansfield Hosiery Mills in the league.

On their day the Thoresby side is as good as any side in the league but they do tend to have some abject awful days such as when Worksop bowled them out for just 33 at Central Avenue in June. They are of course much better than that and recorded wins over Kiveton Park, Cutthorpe as well as Hosiery Mills who must have felt heartily fed up of seeing them after losing in the league and the final of the Tomlins Trophy.

Their skipper Martin Cheshire scored in excess of 850 runs, an amazing feat in such a dismal Summer and Paul Hughes whilst his form could have been better looked quality through and through. Nigel Burkitt scored useful runs and was always in good form with the wicket-keeping gloves on and Jonathan Hill a good Australian all-rounder made some significant contributions with both bat and ball.

Shailesh Patel, Naeed Ahmed and Bill Lippeatt also did well for them with the ball and it was fitting that they picked up a trophy for a solid season’s work.

Promoted from the second division Worksop were hoping to make a big impact after some team building in the close season but it didn’t materialise. They had brought in Steve Bentley from Bridon, Richard Grainger who one thought was part of the furniture at Kiveton Park and New Zealand pace man Brad Moore but still it didn’t see them to a top half of the table finish.

The squad looked strong but it didn’t seem to work. Richard Hare captained the side and with other good players such as Jamil Hassan, Glen Pym, Steve Walker, Tim Ward and Paul Burton in their ranks one could see them having quite a useful season.

On numerous occasions however they flattered to deceive and whilst relegation was never really part of the equation it took a long while before they became mathematically safe for another season. One can see them rising in the league but they do seem to lack a cutting edge with the ball when they are fielding and unless they sort this problem out they will probably struggle again next term.

Edwinstowe who were promoted with them just escaped relegation with an important maximum points win at Cuckney in the final match. The problem with this side was the negativity of their play where they seemed more concerned at stopping teams gaining points than collecting them themselves. However in the final instance it seemed to work for them so probably the end justified the means.

Their Australian all-rounder Garth Brown once again had a good season but on numerous occasions a win seemed there’s for the taking but they preferred to slip into the cautious role and settle for a draw instead. Skipper John Garnham made some useful contributions with both bat and ball as did Ian Smith. Richard Gombos also proved what a dangerous strike bowler he is with the new ball in his hand and amazingly enough they collected more bowling bonus points than any side in the league other than the top two.

One team who will always consider themselves to be terribly unfortunate to have suffered relegation was Bolsover who were confirmed as going down after they lost their final match against Kiveton Park . Strangely enough as was mentioned earlier, had they not been docked eight points for a player’s indiscipline they would still be in Division 1 next year but this incident condemned them to Division 2 cricket in 2005.

Tariq Rashid was his usual run scoring self but the Bolsover club must have been disappointed that he had to return home at the end of August so missing the vital last two matches. As it was they pulled off an amazing win over Cutthorpe but needing eight points to assure safety against Kiveton they could only muster three.

In Charlie Walker they have a skipper who gives everything for the club and Steve Wooley with both bat and ball had a fine season. Several others had bits and pieces times but that lack of consistency was to cost them dearly. They will feel even more embittered considering that they performed the double over Edwinstowe who pipped them in the chase to stay up.

After suffering relegation from the Nottinghamshire Premier League, Blidworth were hoping for better things on their return to the Bassetlaw but it turned out just the same as they suffered the drop once again.

Not until the last match of the season when their fate had been decreed did they show something like they were really capable of when they competed in and gained a losing draw after a titanic struggle with champions Mansfield Hosiery Mills.

There does seem to be another crop of talented youngsters coming through and this should see the club turn the corner shortly. Elliott Hind, Dave Willcock and Craig Turton all played good roles last season and Ritchie Gibbons as usual was the battle hardened warrior he has been for several years for the club. Their New Zealand import Arran Pairama was rather disappointing however and if they had managed to recruit a more productive overseas player things might well have been different.

Moving into Division 1 for the first time since the early 1950s are Marshalls of Gainsborough who finished as champions of Division 2. They were very much indebted to their captain Kevin Housham who scored a bucket full of runs and also took some highly important wicket hauls which saw them through to wins when the odds were stacked against them.

Chris Hearn, Australian Tim Down, James Deacon and the hugely talented Liam Andrews also scored plenty of runs for the side and Mark Davies was the main threat with the ball. One does however get the impression that some strengthening needs doing before the challenge is made next season. They have been knocking on the door for a while now and only time will tell if they can make their hard won place a permanent one.

Going up with them are Killamarsh who were relegated the previous season. This side does look better equipped than the one that came down and in Sam Malpass and Paul Burdett they have latched on to two young jewels at the top of their batting order. Under the very able captaincy of Parminder Mudhar the side looked a strong compact unit from the word go and actually did the double over champions Marshalls.

The one benefit they hold over Marshalls is that most of the side know what to expect having tasted it most recently. This will be a major plus for them and with players such as David and Peter Allen, Rodney Cook and the ‘Prodigal Son’ Adrian Rivington back and firing they could well surprise a few people.

Steve Ludlam and Adrian Rivington were a potent force with the ball and both these two players will trouble even better players than they did this season.