Killamarsh are worthy champions
by Paul Barker, 18th September 2006

At the start of this season I suggested in a preview that KILLAMARSH JUNIORS might just be a dark horse for honours this season. The number of people who told me that I was crazy doesn’t bear thinking about, but when anyone looks at the final table I can tell you that it is me who is smiling now.

I was taken in big style when told who they had recruited and credit is due to them for the signings they made and what a difference took place. Last season they finished fourth from the foot of the league, which was quite alright after gaining promotion the year before. It brought them consolidation and set them up to strengthen their side for what would be a real assault on the title this year.

Things didn’t start too well with their first match against Worksop being rained off, but the following week they convincingly beat promoted Bolsover by six wickets at Villas Road. Two of their newcomers, the young and extremely talented Adam Burgess who had joined them from Staveley Welfare and Nalika De Silva who they apparently discovered in a Kebab house in Sheffield (do you believe that, I don’t) made telling contributions and Killamarsh were up and running.

The following week they absolutely slaughtered Glapwell who had come so close to lifting the title in 2005 and if anyone hadn’t been convinced before they certainly must have been now. In addition to De Silva, their overseas player Pramuka Liyanage had arrived from Sri Lanka and in the game against Glapwell he took 5 for 27 and remained 41 n.o., not a bad way to begin is it!

It got better as the season moved on although De Silva disappeared half way through the campaign (possibly to another Kebab house that paid better!), but even this blow didn’t throw a spanner in the works. Far from it and when the big match arrived on August 12^th against Farnsfield, Killamarsh were certainly up for it.

Batting first, Farnsfield made a more than adequate 231 for 6, but Killamarsh matched it with 237 for 7 and a three wicket win. If the truth is told, this is the match that decided where the championship would end up at and from that moment, Killamarsh grew progressively stronger. When they annihilated Cutthorpe the devining moment had arrived, but they still needed seven points to be sure of taking it at Kiveton in the last match.

They took exactly seven and knew what they were doing right from the word go and did it. Nobody could possibly argue that it was not deserved and they are worthy champions because in the year 2006, they were unquestionably the best team in the league.

Adrian Rivington has been an inspirational skipper and the batting revolved around Adam Burgess, 19 year old Sam Malpass and Paul Burdett. Liyanage has had an excellent season with both bat and ball and experienced players such as Rodney Cook, David Allen and Richard Crabtree have all made their mark.

However the best of the bowling attack has been Parminder Mudhar who has had a quite excellent season taking 43 wickets and must be a contender for the prize of best bowler in Division 1 in 2006.

Finishing runner-up are CUCKNEY who have had a terrific season and were only one point adrift when the final tables were complete. They were fancied somewhat at the start of the season, which in itself was a minor miracle. Three years ago virtually every member of the club left, but with some very shrewd signings and an incredibly good youth policy, they have put things together in great style.

There can be no doubt that with the set-up they have they will sooner rather than later qualify for the Premier League. For anyone who hasn’t been there in several years, all the old shed like buildings have now gone and been replaced by one of the best pavilions you will find in any league. There is also a teriffic indoor cricket school which also doubles up as a banqueting suite, yes you want for nothing at Cuckney.

Will Butler took over as skipper shortly after the start of the season and certainly did a first rate job. He batted well scoring a whole host of runs and certainly helped himself to a few wickets also. Richard Stroh their South African overseas player also had a fine season considering the fact that he was in severe pain from a back injury for virtually the whole season. Another player who had a tremendous season was opening batsmen Simon Shipp who is a predominantly on-side player but is also a very good one. Unfortunately he may be lost to Cuckney next season as his work means he will be living in London.

Two very young players one a batsman, the other a bowler made a massive impact. Daniel Brown a gifted left-hander who played several fine middle-order innings and Tom Ullyott a spin bowler of immense promise. Ullyott virtually turns it square on responsive pitches and gives it such a ‘rip’ that on flat and dead pitches he can still do something with it. He is a real talent for the future and can only get better and better. Also teenage wicket-keeper Elliot Hind looks to be the complete article both with the gloves or a bat in his hands.

Cuckney look to have a bright future in front of them. You certainly wouldn’y bet against them in the future.

The team everyone has been tipping for years to make it to the Premier League FARNSFIELD finished third with probably the best team they have put out in the league for several years. Paul Delaney and James Bennett are probably the best pair of openers in the league, although the latter will always give you a chance because that’s the way he plays.

Two players who at their best were little short of awesome was the Pakistani import Rashid Riaz and Nottinghamshire player Paul Franks who is a Farnsfield lad through and through. This pairing came together for the first time at Glapwell when Farnsfield needed 223 to win and after they had been at the crease for half an hour Gary Saxby fielding at square leg said to me, if they needed 323 they would get them. Yes this was how good they were when they were firing and it was a privilege to witness two players of this quality playing at their very best.

Once again however, Farnsfield were probably hampered by the fact that their skipper Andy Edwards never seemed able to win a toss and so they were asked to bat first virtually always. If the side does have a fault, it is that their attack lacks bite and the fact that the wicket is the best in the entire Midlands. It wouldn’t actually entice someone to join the club knowing they would struggle to take wickets.

Fourth in the table were CUTTHORPE who had a topsy-turvy kind of season. Cutthorpe have always been known as a side who were capable of beating the best and nobody had an easy ride against them. This time they were almost human and in particular when they were defeated by Killamarsh with ridiculous ease. This just wouldn’t have happened a few seasons ago.

Andy Thompson started of the season by blasting three centuries before the middle of June and scored consistently all season. Nigel Kingham who played more games than in recent years proved once again what everybody already knew that he is a top quality player. In addition to his peerless stroke play he took quite a few wickets, destroying sides with a ‘you miss, I hit’ philosophy.

Asadullah Butt was Asadullah Butt. On his day he is still far and away the best all rounder in the league, and Matt Cluer is a youngster with immense ability. Their attack wasn’t as potent as in other years though and sometimes they struggled to bowl sides out.

Tim Barlow without any question is the most under-rated wicket-keeper/batsman in the league and Cutthorpe are extremely fortunate to have his services.

A team who did much better than anyone expected was NOTTS. & ARNOLD AMATEUR. At one stage in the season they actually climbed to second in the table and posed a real threat to the leaders. They had a new captain in Ian Flood who was well thought of by his colleagues who pulled out everything for him. Flood led by example scoring three centuries and taking a substantial amount of wickets.

Australian Leigh Baldry also had an excellent season as did fellow countryman Bill Trewartha and both of these will be sadly missed next season when they return to the other side of the world. Baldry is an elegant left hander who scored a whole host of runs and has spent two years with Notts. & Arnold, whilst Trewartha has been here since 2002, but has now returned home. Trewartha is a quite excellent all round player, he is a good batsman, an excellent wicket-keeper and he can bowl with success. He will be very difficult to replace.

David and Peter Evans had their moments whilst Paul Murphy is still a fine line and length bowler who can take a team apart on his day. It depends who they bring in as their overseas player next season but they will need a good one to replace these two.

KIVETON PARK have probably got as good a squad of quality young players as any side in the league. If they can keep them all, the sky is the limit and if they mature as seems likely they should be a real force over the next few years. Astutely captained by Rob Coxon, nobody faced Kiveton with absolute confidence because on their day they were capable of beating anybody.

Phil Cooper is quite brilliant and over the season he amassed three league centuries, two against Bolsover and one against Edwinstowe. In addition to this he flayed Bolsover for 165 in the Tomlin Trophy and they must by this time have been heartily fed up with seeing him. All this and he isn’t even 18 years old yet!

In addition to Cooper, other young players such as Matty Cartwright, Ashley Rhodes and Andy Marsh have all had their moments and others such as Alex Gilbert and Tom Neeley are now breaking through. Add to them the bowling ability of Kyle McKeeman plus the experience players such as Richard Spurr, Richard Grainger (who returned from Worksop), Lee Brooks and several others, the future is definitely bright at Stone Close.

There is a whole host more in the second team waiting to come through and their only danger is poaching activities by other sides who produce nobody, but then lift players from other sides when they become the finished article.

A side who only failed by three points to take the title in 2005, were strangely out of form for the whole of the first half of the season. In fact GLAPWELL were distinctly worried for a long while, before they finally got themselves together and finished well clear of the pack. They had every right to be worried as they sat at the very bottom of the table for many weeks and in one match were bowled out by Blidworth for just 54!

This game in particular showed everything that was wrong with the side at the time. Instead of getting their heads down and grinding out a result on a very wet pitch, most of the side were beaten before they reached the wicket, moaning about how wet it was instead of knuckling down and getting on with the game. At no time that day was the wicket dangerous, and when one considers Richard Smith (who is certainly no Brett Lee, Shoaib Ahktar) in relation to pace took 6 for 8 one had to question their desire for a battle.

Luckily for them they pulled things around and in the second half of the season showed what they can do. Iain O’Brien carried an injury for most of the season and was not the force of previous ones, but could still produce it when needed. Matt Hall who in addition to his bowling had without question his best ever season with the bat, and other telling contributions came from Rob Davison, Lee Topham and Phil Matthews. Glapwell need just a little strengthening and they will be a threat to the top teams once again, you can count on that. 

Promoted BOLSOVER had a more than satisfactory season considering the fact that they really did have something to moan about before the start. Some mindless morons took it upon themselves to set fire to their tea room and bar and when the willing volunteers had started to put things right, these imbeciles went and had another go at it!

They had recruited a Pakistani all rounder by the name of Sulaman Qadir (the son of Abdul who had an amazing test career) and just when he had settled in he sustained an injury which saw him return home. At that time you could have forgiven Bolsover for thinking that life was much better in Division 2, but no, after a few trials and tribulations they turned things around and put some great results together.

Another Pakistani, Akram Khan arrived and straight away he looked the business, but after a bad defeat against Cutthorpe, skipper Charlie Walker laid it on the line and asked his players if they wanted to play in Division 1.

This brought them around and they put together some excellent results from that stage. One match in particular that summed up the aspirit in the Bolsover camp was when they had only totalled 177 for 9, and Worksop had stood 143 for 2 they still managed a winning draw with Worksop hanging on desperately on 175 for 9 at the close.

There are some good players there. In skipper Charlie Walker they have an inspirational leader and Mark Bull, Andy Rogers, Chris Cowley and Andy Crookes are all capable of making runs. Steve Wooley is a first class all rounder and one of the biggest hitters in the league, whilst Chris Pemberton can be a real threat with a new ball in his hand. If Akram Khan comes back in 2007 or a player of similar standard, Bolsover should certainly be alright once again, they are moving in the right direction.

Going the other way at the moment are sadly WORKSOP. It must be said that if they hadn’t had such a good start, they would probably have been in Division 2 next season. From August 12^th they lost every match they played other than a rained off fixture and they weren’t just defeats in all these games they were absolutely anhilated.

What went wrong is difficult to pin point. At one point they even posted a winning draw against Killamarsh, so why they should finish in freefall is a complete mystery. Their attack relied heavily on Ramesh Sanjay who is an excellent all rounder, but he cannot be expected to do it all on his own. Chris Taylor scored a bundle of runs early on but faded over the last few months whilst Luke and Mark Ambrose plus Steve Bentley and Glen Pym are all capable players who really don’t do it as consistently as they should.

If they start next season as badly as they finished this one, they will certainly be in for a season of real struggle. However there is a long way to go and some recruitment and fine tuning might make a lot of difference. 

Spare a thought for MARSHALLS who have had the same thing happen to them for the last two seasons. Both years they have hires a top class Australian, Glen Talorico in 2005 who went back because he was homesick, and then this year Gareth Yelland went back after making a huge early impact because of problems with his girlfriend!

When Yelland was playing, Marshalls did look a potent force and they even came from an impossible position to beat Cuckney (who must have been  rueing this match at the end of the season) by two runs on May Day Monday.

Paul Van den Heuvel led by example and if he remained at the crease for 15 minutes he usually scored a lot of runs for his side, but once Yelland had gone back, it was always going to be a struggle. In the end they escaped quite easily and deserve another crack next season.

They have some useful batsmen in Mark Whitlam, James Deacon, Chris Needham and Chris Hearn, but they do lack a penetrative bowler who can get amongst the opposition. If they can find one (and someone who will stay with them for a whole season!) they will probably escape relegation very easily next term.

BLIDWORTH gained promotion at the end of 2005 and at the end of 2006 they are going straight back. At the half way stage of the season you would never have thought that this was likely, but from that moment on they never won another match. They had surprised everyone in the first half of the season but then something happened which no side could have coped with.

At one fell swoop they lost three players, Lee Wilson, Lewis Sprigg and Andy Norwood to football and for the rest of the season, skipper Dave Wood was having to muddle through with untried youngsters who are not yet quite up with it. It is a major problem, football and if you can do without this sort of player, it is best to do so, because if the players are useful, it gives you a false impression of how good a side you are.

New Zealander Doug Winger tailed off after a bright start, and with the promising David Turton missing virtually all season due to injury, Blidworth were in real trouble. They still had fighters such as Ritchie Gibbons playing all the way and in Richard Smith they had a medium pacer who could cause disorder in any ranks, but the rest of the squad was rather thin.

They should do well again next season, but they would be better to manage without the footballing element. There is some real talent at Blidworth but it will take a few years yet before it bears complete fruition.

Whilst I may have boasted about tipping Killamarsh for the title, I was brought back to earth by EDWINSTOWE of whom I also tipped to be challenging for honours. Early on in the season a skipper told me to my abject horror ‘They are certainties to go down, there is a total lack of ability there’. Although taken aback by this, I still believed this guy who I think is very knowledgeable was very wrong. I was quickly to learn, he was very right as Edwinstowe never looked like getting out of trouble all season.

They were unlucky when Richard Gombos and Andrew Firth a top order batsman who had joined them from Treeton in the South Yorkshire Premier League sustained bad injuries and were out for the entire season. They had Asif Zakir the Pakistani who had created such a big impression the previous season but he was plagued with inconsistency this time. Craig Saxelby joined from Bridon, but he too lacked consistency and the only player to really shine throughout the season was the gutsy former skipper Jon Garnham who did more than his fair share with both bat and ball. 

How a team can finish third from the top one season and be relegated next is beyond comprehension. Most of the side was the same but with the injuries and Garth Brown leaving and Ian Smith being unavailable they couldn’t compete and suffered some very heavy defeats. They now have the chance to regroup and put 2006 down as just a bad memory. They need to do that quickly and get back on the right track.