South Notts Cricket League Presentation Night 2004
by Alan Rowley, 13th November 2004

The final act of the South Nottinghamshire Cricket League 2004 season was completed at Cotgrave Miners Welfare on November 12th when the league held their presentation evening. Around 230 players, and officials packed into the concert room to enjoy a meal and receive their awards.

The evening started with introductions from master of ceremonies Stewart Hague before the guests enjoyed a meal consisting of soup, a cold meat salad and dessert. Following the meal, the first award presented was the President's Trophy for services to the league, which this year went to Ken Bloor. The award was presented to Ken by president Trevor Vennett-Smith (see picture left).

Individual and team awards were then presented, and the league recruited former Nottinghamshire Cricket Club star Andy Pick to do the honours. Andy now plays for Thrumpton in the South Notts League and still retains much of his abilities, as he demonstrated this season with two hat-tricks.

With so many divisions to get through, the awards ceremony lasted well over an hour, but the event could have taken longer had all clubs and players showed up for their awards. Why so many don't attend is a mystery as the winning of an award should be the highlight of any player's career.

Gedling Colliery Cricket Club - South Notts Cricket League Division A champions 2004

One team that did enter into the spirit of the evening was Division M champions Bingham who's large contingent turned up sporting a variety of headgear. Other clubs which put in a good turn out included Division A champions Gedling Colliery, Thrumpton and Plumtree, who's three teams all won awards.

Bingham Cricket Club - best turned-out winners

After the awards had been presented, all that was left to finish the evening was the drawing of the raffle and a final drink from the bar before closing the 2004 season. The evening went well, and considering the tickets were a meagre £12, the costs can be considered as reasonable. Whether the league continue to hold their presentations at Cotgrave remain to be seen, but if anyone wants to suggest an alternative venue, I'm sure the committee would be interested to hear your ideas.

For more pictures and a list of all the award winners, take a look at the official league website.