The 2 C's look likely contenders
by Paul Barker, 19th April 2007

Sponsored by Wilkinson

Last season and without wishing to boast, I predicted that Killamarsh would be ‘live dark horses’ and they more than carried out my expectations by winning the league albeit only by a single point from Cuckney. This season however looks much more clear cut and quite frankly I cannot look farther than Cuckney and Cutthorpe for the title.

Of course I might be a million miles out and some of my predictions have backfired dramatically over the years, but we will have to wait and see. Of course it is possible that a very important player might get injured and miss the entire season. That could really throw a spanner in the works so it might not be as clear cut as it looks but lets take a look what is on offer and then you can all make your own mind up what and where each side is going to finish.

We start with CUCKNEY who had a tremendous season in 2006 and finished as previously stated just one point behind champions Killamarsh after a spectacular late run saw then undefeated from the 29^th of July right through to the end of the season. Will Butler who took over as skipper when Dean Sayer became unavailable earlier in the season, did a first class job and continues in the role and is hoping to go one better this term.

They have strengthened what was already a good side considerably since the end of last season with the acquisition of Steve Randall (from Welbeck), Steve Bentley (from Worksop) and Kunil Jogia (from Barrow Town). These three added to the already strong contingent will certainly make them into a formidable force and it will take a mighty good side to overcome them.

Randall who was on Nottinghamshire’s books for quite a while has always done well at this level and has had spells with Farnsfield and Retford before moving to Welbeck. He is a high quality slow bowler who is useful with the bat also. Bentley captained Worksop last season and is a capable batsman and a useful seam-up medium pacer.

Jogia is the interesting one, as not many will know of his capabilities in this area. He is a top class batsman who has been playing in the Leicestershire Premier League and his credentials are impeccable. He has opened the batting for Barrow Town and made a huge impact and Cuckney are delighted to have secured his services for this season.

In addition to this they have the excellent glove work of Elliott Hind at their disposal and a huge crop of highly talented youngsters who have come through their youth system. As Richard Stroh their highly influential all-rounder and secretary points out, they are certainly hoping for big things this season and the side certainly looks very capable on paper.

Two players they will miss are Simon Shipp their opening batsman who over the past few seasons has scored a huge amount of runs but has decided the trip from Buckinghamshire where he works is too far to travel this time, and the incredibly talented spin bowler Tom (Tea-Bag) Ullyott who will miss half the season whilst he is away at college.

However the strength is there so it will just be a case of wait and see. You certainly wouldn’t get much in the line of odds from any bookmaker against them winning it and these people are very rarely wrong, but you never know. We watch their progress with interest.

The great enigmas of Bassetlaw cricket are FARNSFIELD who looked likely to win the title last season, but then slipped up towards the end. Like Cuckney they have a magnificent set-up and any good batsman would always want to perform regularly on their wicket. Yes it’s the type that any batsman would want to roll-up and carry it round with them because if you can’t score runs on Station Road, you have no business in calling yourself a batsman.

However by the other code, all bowlers have to work incredibly hard for any reward gained and that is possibly why they have struggled to attract good quality bowlers to the club. However they certainly have once again at their disposal a terrific squad of excellent players, which will once again be led by their popular skipper Andy Edwards whose only fault is that he is terminally unlucky with the toss all the time.

Farnsfield welcome back their exceptional Pakistani import Rashid Riaz who in his half a season there last year averaged an incredible 84.00 in only ten innings with a highest score of 130 n.o. Riaz will be available all season this time and will no doubt be a very valuable member of the side. James Bennett and Paul Delaney will open the innings once again and this pairing is one of the best in the entire league.

A newcomer to their ranks will be a 19-year-old medium pacer from the Lincoln area Andrew Carter who the club have high hopes of. He has been recommended by Paul Franks who unfortunately for Farnsfield will not be available as much as they would like owing to the fact it is his benefit season at Nottinghamshire.

Farnsfield are also very proud of their youth set-up and although he is only 14 years old, Sam Wood is expected to get his chance with the first XI throughout this season. They will no doubt go close once again but a lot will depend on how many wickets Mark Silcock and young Carter take and how many times Franks is available to them. Andy Edwards will also be hoping that he can win the toss occasionally and put the opposition in, which on Station Road will give them much more chance of picking up the points.

Since winning the league in 2002 and being cruelly denied promotion to the Nottinghamshire Premier League, CUTTHORPE have never reached such lofty heights again. This time it could be very different though as they have made several significant signings that should vastly improve what was already a good side.

Once again they will be captained by Mark Barlow, a shrewd tactician and they will once again have at their disposal Andy Thompson who is arguably the best and certainly the most aggressive opening batsman in the league. Nigel Kingham will be available all season and that will be a massive boost for them as this is a player who oozes class with the bat and is a more than useful slow bowler.

Asadullah Butt who now lives in Sheffield will also be available as will Matt Cluer who is becoming more the ’real thing’ with every season that passes. Butt has been a staggering success over many seasons at Cutthorpe and in the last campaign he scored 612 runs and captured 32 wickets but in addition to him, Cutthorpe have now acquired an opening bowler to support Butt and my oh my this guy does look to be rather tasty.

The person in question is Farhan Ayub an extremely quick bowler who is a first class cricketer in Pakistan. Ayub took 30 first class wickets last season at 23.00 each and as anybody will tell you that speaks for itself. Cutthorpe feel they have acquired a player who will make even the best players ‘hop around’, and they are really looking forward to his arrival. Ayub is also left-handed which will add that extra variation to the attack.

In addition they have signed Rob Plested from Chesterfield who last season in the Derbyshire Premier League averaged in excess of 37 with the bat and he can also bowl a bit too. Also joining them is Ian Thompson (Andy’s brother) from Eckington and he will be a useful late order batsman and a player who is capable of taking wickets when they are badly needed.

Cutthorpe look as though they have got the bit back between their teeth and will pose a massive threat to all teams. Just watch them go.

My ‘dark horses’ last year Killamarsh, actually won the league last year, so what price the same happening this year? Promoted in 2005 to the Nottinghamshire Premier League, relegated back after a disastrous season in 2006, THORESBY COLLIERY may well cause an upset or two along the way this time around.   

On numerous occasions last season they managed huge scores but then lacked the ammunition to bowl opponents out. This year it could be quite different as Jamal Hussain is back with them after several seasons away and with Shailesh Patel and Steve Willis as back-up bowlers their attack looks rather more potent.

Martin Cheshire again captains the side and they also have a more than handy New Zealand recruit Chris Spring who they have high hopes of. The rest of the side is predominantly the same and whilst I am not as confident of them as I was of Killamarsh last season only a fool would dismiss them out of hand.

A team who did rather well last season, NOTTS. & ARNOLD AMATEUR look to be a difficult side to assess this time around. At one stage in 2005 they actually looked like mounting a challenge for honours with skipper Ian Flood enjoying a terrific season and proving to be an inspirational leader.

They have however lost the services of Leigh Baldry the elegant left handed Australian and Bill Trewartha the wicket-keeper batsman who has served them so well since arriving in 2002.

They have gained Tom Elliot another young player from Geelong in Australia and although he is primarily a batsman he is expected to be useful with the ball also. Other than that the side is very much the same as last season with stalwarts such as Mark North and Pete Evans still going strong and Joe Pallister and the 15 year old off spinner Ryan Martin hoping to make his mark.

Flood himself had an amazing season scoring over 1000 runs with three centuries included. They are hoping to once again have Paul Murphy playing, but he hasn’t yet decided if he has retired. One hopes he is still around, because on the evidence of last season he is still very useful indeed. This side is so difficult to judge and a mid-table position would look to be their target with numerous young cricketers on the verge of breaking through.

It’s all change at KIVETON PARK with Richard Spurr stepping up into the role as captain once again. Rob Coxon has decided to step down and freed from the shackles of leading the side may well have a tremendous season. They have strayed from there policy that has seen an Australian cricketer in there ranks for several seasons now and have hired what looks like being a top quality Sri-Lankan in Harsha Cooray.

This guy has averaged above 30.00 in first class cricket and can also bowl off-spin, which should prove to be very useful. In addition to Cooray, Ian Hampshire has rejoined them from Welbeck and will take the place of Phil Cooper who has moved to Papplewick in the Nottinghamshire Premier League. All the rest of the side will basically be the same as last season with Richard Grainger, Matty Cartwright, Kyle McKeeman all continuing to do the business.

They also have hopes that Tom Neeley will break through this season, and whilst one could not see Kiveton winning anything, by the same token there appears not to be any reason why they should struggle.

After finishing runners-up in 2005, GLAPWELL had a shocking start in 2006 and at one time were plumb bottom of the table. At no time did anybody believe that they would stay there and of course they improved dramatically to finish in mid table. Since the end of last season Kiwi, Iain O’Brien has left them and that will be a major blow to the side.

They are hopeful however of a Pakistani recruit Umair Khan who in addition to being an opening bowler, can also bat a bit. Apparently he is quite quick and will surprise several sides and in addition they have recruited Richard Hope a batsman from Thoresby Colliery, Andy Woolven a young and highly promising opening bowler from Grassmoor and Chris Barrett another medium pacer from Underwood who play in the South Nottinghamshire League.

Matt Hall takes over the reins as skipper and such players as Lee Topham, Dean Graney, Rob Davison etc., will still be around to make their presence felt. This looks like being a crossroads style season for Glapwell but their certainly seems too much ability around to prevent them getting in any trouble.

One of the most popular players throughout the entire league Charlie Walker stands down as skipper of BOLSOVER and will be succeeded by Mark Bull this campaign. This side had an excellent season last campaign and any side who under rated them had a nasty shock. In Akram Khan they had a Pakistani import who really did the business for them scoring 949 league runs at an average of 73.00 a fantastic achievement.

Fortunately for Bolsover he is back this season and the side will be hoping for the same again from this hugely talented performer who is also expected to keep wicket as well. They are also hoping that Andy Pierrepont will be playing most of the season and with Chris Pemberton also a threat with his left arm medium pace, they will cause some upsets this time.

Charlie Walker will still be available and this excellent clubman who had done a magnificent job for his club will bowl his miserly line and length stuff once again. Steve Wooley is without doubt one of the most destructive all rounders in the league and when he is on top of his game he can savage an attack like nobody else in the league.

Bolsover should be all right but they do need everyone performing all the time. Any drop in standards and they could find themselves in a spot of trouble.

A side who have one of the very best youth policy’s in the entire league is WORKSOP but it looks like it will take another couple of years before they gain fruition. They have a new captain in Luke Ambrose and Glenn Pym will act as vice-captain.

Last season they faded away badly after a great start and it was only that Blidworth and Edwinstowe fared even more poorly that kept them up. They have retained the services of Ramesh Sanjay who did a fine job for them in 2006 and with players such as Luke and Mark Ambrose, Timmy Ward, Glenn Pym and Chris Taylor around you would think that they are quite capable of scoring runs.

Where they lack is with the ball and Sanjay and John Smith are the only two potential wicket takers. It doesn’t help matters that Simon Robson will probably miss most of the season with injury and sadly Worksop don’t look likely to carry enough threat in them to bowl people out.

It looks like a season of struggle for them but they may find someone amongst their youthful ranks that might step up and surprise people. They will struggle but don’t write them off completely.

The whole world loves a tryer and MARSHALLS at Gainsborough are certainly one of them. For the last two seasons they have hired an Australian. In 2005 it was Glen Talorico and in 2006 it was Gareth Yelland and both of them did enough in the first month of the season to show that they would be a significant threat to all sides.

However that was it! After the first month of the season, both of them decided to return home and without them life became extremely difficult for Marshalls. You would have thought that these happenings would have put Marshalls off Australians for good, but no, give them credit they have hired another one in Andrew Coles a batsman and a seam-up bowler of merit and are hoping for better this time. It is hoped that Coles remains at the club all season and enjoys a terrific time and I am sure nobody would begrudge Marshall that.

They have the nucleus of the side they had last season but fortunately Kevin Housham is back after a two year sabbatical. Housham scored runs for fun before and even took the odd wicket along the way and if he can capture his form of the past he will be a major asset. Paul Van den Heuvel again captains the side and they are hoping that another two players will join them before the start of the season.

Mark Davies is also back and such players as Chris Needham, James Deacon and Mark Whitlam also look capable.

They are another side that it is difficult to predict though and a lot will depend upon the Australian especially if the club gets a whole season out of him. They certainly deserve to get one.

The two promoted sides conclude this review and Division 2 champions RANSOME & MARLES appear to be everybody’s favourites for the drop. Quite frankly I don’t know why so many have come to this conclusion because I believe they are good enough to shock several sides and finish around mid-table.

Gary Lambert skippers the side once again and he has had experience at this level before when he played for Farnsfield and certainly wasn’t found wanting then as he picked up quite a haul of wickets at a respectable rate. Brothers Robert and Paul Taylor have both played for Collingham in the Nottinghamshire Premier League and in addition to these they have hired a South African Henno Jordaan from the same area as Francois Le Clus who proved to be so successful last term.

They also have an Australian who has played in one of the Yorkshire Leagues for the past few years and lives over here in Russ Keeley and all in all they look to have a better than even chance of making some impact.

In addition Ian Sellars and Nigel Murray look capable of scoring runs at any level and the latter will also act as wicket-keeper since young Rory Ethrington has injured himself and is likely to miss most if not all of the season. I may have this one wrong but I expect Ransomes to be fairly comfortable all season.

I wish I could say the same for BRIDON the other promoted club, but on this one I do have grave reservations. They were hoping to have hired a Sri-Lankan into their ranks but this move has not materialised so they have been left a little in limbo.

Wayne Spooner has taken over from Gareth Jones as skipper and there can be no doubt that this guy is a highly talented all-rounder who is capable of mixing with the best. They have also recruited Arran Haycock who was originally at Blyth before moving to Unity Casuals in the Nottinghamshire Premier League.

In addition it is hoped that Rob McLeod will be available more often this time and he is an asset to any side. Darren Spooner is also a useful competitor with both bat and ball and Matt Makings and Simon Davison can be a threatening opening attack.

Quite frankly with a good overseas or top homegrown player just to sharpen them up they would look a reasonable force, but they look a little lightweight at the minute. I could be wrong however.