Bassetlaw stars of the season
by Paul Barker, 14th August 2005

With one of the worst days in living memory which wiped out the whole of the league programme, taking place on Saturday, I thought it would be an appropriate time to look back over the period that has gone and make some observations about what I have seen. I have listed below some players who have greatly impressed me with both bat and ball and whilst many will disagree with me, I stress my observations are only what I have seen in the matches I have officiated as an umpire.

MARTIN CHESHIRE (Thoresby Colliery). Nobody can deny the talents of this wonderful left handed master-class batsman. I first saw Martin more years ago than I care to remember batting for Thoresby at the old Staveley Works ground at Handley Wood back in the early 1980s in Division 1D. That day he flayed some pretty ordinary bowling for 149 runs but the one thing that struck me was the effortless way he despatched the ball to the boundary.

With this guy it’s not about power and brute force, he makes it look so ridiculously easy with his exquisite timing and as Thoresby stepped up the divisions he took the step up in class like a duck to water. It doesn’t surprise me that he is still scoring bucket loads of runs at the highest level; he is so talented as many bowlers have found out over the years. Sheer class all the way through puts Martin amongst the beat that have played in the league over the last 25 years.

SAEED BIN NASIR (Pilsley). Probably the most talked about player in possibly the whole league. Now it must be said that Saeed is playing his cricket in Division 2, but don’t let that fool you, he would do just the same in Division 1 and even the Premier Leagues, yes he is that good. He deserves all the plaudits he gets because as well as being a bloody good player he is a sportsman through and through and is also a thoroughly nice fellow.

I have had the pleasure of umpiring Pilsley twice this season and against Everton he failed, he only scored 68, but three weeks later he was unbeaten on 102 as Pilsley walloped Blidworth by eight wickets at Barlow Hill. He lacks absolutely nothing. Bowl him anything off line and you will be fetching the ball back from the boundary. He never misses out on the bad ball and the word class is written through him like a stick of rock. He is so close to making the Pakistani test team and quite frankly I hope he makes it. That should tell you how very good he is.

IAIN O’BRIEN (Glapwell). For anyone who hasn’t seen this fellow, please don’t believe all you read. O.K. he is quite quick at this level, but he is also one of the most intelligent bowlers you are ever likely to see. His slower ball is so brilliantly disguised that he must take 50% of his wickets with it, and whilst the batsmen facing him know that it is going to come, when it arrives they can never spot it!

His accuracy is unbelievable as he hits the stumps such a lot which tells you everything. He thinks deeply about every ball he is going to bowl and whilst the occasional short ball might be forthcoming he never over does things.

His two wickets in test cricket for New Zealand are Matthew Hayden and Damian Martyn and these two are mighty scalps as everyone knows. In addition to his ability with the ball he captains the Glapwell side and is highly respected by his colleagues. Glapwell have become a side that are now challenging for the title and still have a very good chance of lifting the trophy, and since the arrival of O’Brien several of their players have improved beyond recognition. This tells everyone what an effect he has had on the club.

USMAN SAEED (Bolsover). To follow such a good player as Tariq Rashid is no easy task, but 19 year-old Usman has made a massive impact for Bolsover already this season. Unlucky to suffer relegation last season, Bolsover are racing away from the field in Division 2 and that is due in no small way to Usman Saeed who already this season has scored three centuries in the league, took over 50 wickets and is like greased lightning in the field.

This young man has represented Pakistan at under 19 level and is without question a star of the future. In addition to putting sides bowling attack to the sword, he is also capable of playing the supporting role and doing that well also. When umpiring him at Farnsfield, he was content to let Steve Wooley blast the ball out of the ground constantly whilst he built up a solid innings of 59 at the other end. Had Wooley got out (and he was once, but yours truly made a mistake) then I am sure Usman would have taken over the leading role, but it just goes to show how he can adapt his game. This is a very talented player indeed.

MARK WHITLAM ( Marshalls ). Probably a name that is not known too many, but this guy did impress me when I officiated their match against Edwinstowe in June. A solid, stocky player who I had never seen before, he arrived at the wicket at No. 3 after an early loss, and after a shaky start produced a very good innings against a side who were then leading the table.

Whitlam scored an excellent 64 to help his side make a substantial score which gave them a surprise winning draw in the match. He impressed me with his technique and I mark him down as a player with a good future in the game.

ASIF ZAKIR (Edwinstowe). Another Pakistani import and someone who arrived over here with a very big reputation. In the match against Marshalls he almost won the match single handedly for his side with a sparkling 92 after he had got away with a horrible looping shot which luckily dropped between fielders from the first ball he received.

In this match he started the game as wicket-keeper and after 23 overs took the pads and gloves off and bowled so effectively that he took 4 for 51 and then went on to make 92 which looking at things retrospectively isn’t a bad days work I am sure you will all agree.

Something tells me however that this guy’s best days are still to come and Edwinstowe are a lucky side to have his services. As the song goes ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ and yes to follow on it certainly will be fine.

CHRIS MARPLES (Grassmoor). Nobody needs for me to tell them what a talent this player has been down the years. In the match which I officiated against Clay Cross Works he went from 50 to 81 in a single over and whilst many of you will say, well Barnes Park is only a small ground, let me furnish you with the full facts. The first five balls cleared the houses on the other side of the road, that’s how far the ball was smote and Chris was visibly annoyed with himself when he missed out on the last ball which was a juicy full toss on leg stump.

Chris has all the talent in the world and has had it for many years. For the last few years he has scored a huge amount of runs for Cutthorpe and has now returned to one of his first club’s Grassmoor. One other thing that you can always say about him is when he has a bat in his hands, proceedings are never dull, he wouldn’t know how to play that way.

PHIL COOPER ( Kiveton Park ). This is quite a lad who has every confidence in his own ability and although he is only 16, he is hugely talented. On several occasions this season he has made 70s and 80s but failed to convert them into the centuries that his work has deserved. This will surely happen in the future because the ability is there and it is just a matter of time.

Some people might say he is big-headed but quite frankly he isn’t. Cocky, maybe, but the thing is he has a bag of confidence in his own ability and that is no bad thing especially for one so young. I am sure this fellow will go on to make a huge name for himself and I would be amazed if I was to be proved wrong on this one.

DAVID HUNT (Welbeck). This young man is a bit older than Phil Cooper, but when I came across him recently at Ashover, there are huge similarities between the two. David Hunt is without question the best young wicket keeper that I have seen in the league for ten years and if that is a sweeping statement, then so be it.

Confidence exudes from this larger than life character, and whilst one might describe him as a bit ‘gobby’, he isn’t insulting in any way and he continually cajoles his team mates to keep up or even improve upon their efforts. He has everything going for a wicket-keeper, nice soft hands, never snatches, and the ball always comes to him and his gloves seem to be magnetic the way the ball is attracted to them. He never uses his pads unnecessarily and he makes advances to the ball which always sees it nestling in his gloves. Yes this guy is class, top class.

In addition to this he does look a very capable batsman who plays very straight indeed. He didn’t score many runs when I umpired his side, but he does look to have style and technique which will always shine through. I am also told he is virtually a top grade coach which at such a tender age is absolutely amazing. David Hunt looks to me to be someone who is devoted to cricket, and I say more power to his elbow, carry on the good work, David.

GLENN PYM (Worksop). The great enigma of Bassetlaw League cricket. Glenn as everyone knows should always score a bucket full of runs everytime he goes to the crease, but he seldom does. When I umpired Worksop at Glapwell he came to the crease on the fourth ball of the first over after Iain O’Brien had redecorated Ramesh Sanjay’s stumps off the third one.

Neil Probert the Worksop scorer had told me Glenn was having a hard time of it having scored only 26 runs on his last five wickets to the crease, but things were to change this day. After the good start O’Brien was strangely off colour, bowling far too short to Pym and Richard Grainger and with both these two being excellent players of short pitched bowling, Worksop got back into the game quite quickly.

Pym was unknown to me on 99 when now bowling at my end, O’Brien had a huge shout for l.b.w. which I refused. Bowling round the wicket O’Brien pitched outside off stump and Pym (playing a stroke) intercepted it just outside the off stump with his pad. If I had the same decision to make another 100 times I would do exactly the same, and I still think I was 100% right on this one.

He went on to complete his century before being out for 105 and Worksop who went into the match bottom of the league beat Glapwell who were top off the final ball although it could have been so different if a slip catch had been accepted off the final ball.

Why Glenn Pym doesn’t score a 1000 runs a season every season is beyond me. He can look so good when he is flowing and so bad when things are going so wrong. I suppose its all part of the great game we are involved with.

Two incredible catches are worthy of mention just before I sign off and they both happened in the same match, Farnsfield 2 nd v Bolsover at Station Lane in Division 2. The first one dismissed Phil Tyler and was accepted by CHRIS COWLEY of Bolsover who caught a fiercely hit drive in the style that Peter Shilton, Pat Jennings and Gordon Banks would have been proud of. An amazing effort. The second one was by KEITH MILLER of Farnsfield who dismissed Bolsover’s Andy Rogers and if he hadn’t caught it t would have gone straight through him and outside the other side. Having done this deed Miller put the ball on the ground and walked away as if nothing had happened, a nice touch I thought.

Well that’s it so now I expect criticism of my selections on the message board, but as I said at the start this is only about events that I have witnessed this season and doesn’t include second hand information. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it and hope for some more great memories in the last five matches before another season passes by.