Farnsfield lead, but who wants it most?
by Paul Barker, 3rd July 2008

Without wishing to sound too controversial, I just wonder about the feeder leagues and the different county Premier Leagues that have now been operating for around 12 seasons in our local cricket circles. The current season is now half way through, and in the Bassetlaw League, there is certainly nobody that can say with any confidence, we are going to win the league.

The problem is as it is with most things these days, money! The ones that have it are always going to succeed, whilst those that have to work their butt off for every penny, will always struggle. Okay you might say there has always been professionalism in the game, and I wouldn’t doubt that.

The late George Langdale states in his book ‘A History of Bassetlaw Cricket’ that Dinnington Colliery had offered someone 3d to play for them in 1906 and that must have been a massive amount in those days, but it wasn’t as prevalent as it is today.

A player from a club in the Nottinghamshire Premier League told me that one club had a wage bill in excess of £70,000 last season! That is a staggering amount and I am sure that this was not the intended idea when these combinations were first mooted.

One person whose side were one of the original members of the Nottinghamshire Premier League told me that you couldn’t possibly compete without about seven professionals in your ranks and that I might add came from one of the most respected players that has been known in local circles over the last thirty years or so.

Just take a look at the current Premier League table and it can be spread into three sections. The rich boys are the top four and whoever wins the title will always come from that group, the also rans in the centre are the clubs who won’t be relegated but won’t win anything either and the relegation candidates the ones who have to produce their own young players and then see them taken away from them with huge offers of cash and the promise of winning pots. Quite frankly I have little or no time for these mercenaries and the game would be far better off without them.

There are of course some that are blindingly loyal to the club they serve and these can’t be praised enough. They are the rocks that local cricket was built upon, but sadly they are in a minority today. Where is all this leading to I suppose you are asking, well I am wondering if anyone really wants to go up into the Premier League and are they all dreading winning The Championship Division of the Bassetlaw League.

It’s not as daft as it sounds. Just think about it, unless they find a ‘Sugar Daddy’ with pots and pots of money they are going to go through a horrendous time and get beaten badly almost every week. It’s a sobering thought and I do believe the day will come when one team wins the Bassetlaw Championship and then says thanks but no thanks to admission to the Premier League. Don’t laugh, I am sure it will happen and not in the too distant future.

At the present moment, Farnsfield lead the way and there is no doubt they are a terrifically run club with one of the best youth policies in the East Midlands. In Sam Wood who is just 15, I believe they have a player who not only will play for Nottinghamshire but will eventually go on to represent England.

I believe that he is simply the best left-handed batsman this area that has produced in the last fifty years. He is going to get even better, as he is still learning, but this lad has class and quality in abundance and a lot more is still to come. The side is captained by Paul Franks when he is available and this guy is an absolute credit to local cricket. He very rarely bowls but his batting is superb and the youngsters are learning so much from him.

Add the fact that Paul Delaney a stalwart for many years now is having a very impressive season and the young South African wicket-keeper Damion Crowley has been a terrific capture with both bat and the gloves. I still believe Farnsfield will go on to win the title, but will it be too soon for these excellent youngsters to make the huge step-up?

Promoted at the end of last season, Edwinstowe always looked a decent bet to do well, but one would never have envisaged them being in second place at half way. However there position is totally merited, they have played good cricket and possess a team spirit that never sees them give in, even when things are looking very black.

Paul Peacock captains them and it is quickly obvious to any onlooker that the team are right behind him and have the utmost respect for him also. Their Australian left hander Wade Townsend has proved to be an inspired capture with a series of fine scores and runs have also come right down the order. 

In addition Jeff Appleton has proved what a good player he still is with both bat and gloves and the middle order with such players as Gareth Price, Paul Benson and Ian Smith have made excellent contributions. In addition their attack has done the business and Richard Gombos is still one of the best bowlers in the league. James Peacock has shown that he is an all-rounder of real talent and the side’s confidence is sky high. Every team will need to perform well to put one over on these.

A team who are brimming with confidence at the moment is most definitely Glapwell. The Park Avenue side had an indifferent start to the season, but have more than made up for that in recent weeks with the pinnacle of their success being a last ball triumph over Farnsfield.

The side is workmanlike and doesn’t possess any major stars, but you can’t take any liberties with them or they will crush you. In skipper Matt. Hall they possess a candidate for the best all-rounder in the league, and in addition to his quality with both bat and ball he leads purely by example. Hall is certainly not a ‘shouter’, but someone who never expects anyone to do something he wouldn’t do himself. His style is impressive and the rest of the team back him to the hilt.

Australian Jeff Wharton joined them in the close season and he has been a valuable asset not only with the ball but also he has a wonderful eye and has turned many a match for Glapwell when he has arrived in the middle-order. Lee Topham and Daniel Bircumshaw have both been struggling for form but that seems to be coming right now and runs have also come from Rob Davison and Richard Hope. Don’t count Glapwell out of things; they will not be a long way away at the finish.

Three seasons ago and this emphasises what I was talking about earlier, Thoresby Colliery gained promotion to the Nottinghamshire Premier League and after a nightmare season in which, if my memory is correct, they didn’t win a single match, they were relegated straight back again.

Many sides would have simply collapsed after such a torrid season, but full credit to Thoresby they re-grouped and are back in contention once again.

However this beggars the question ‘would they want to go through the same exercise again?’ As I said earlier, if you haven’t got money to throw at it, then why bother in the first place! Thoresby and many other clubs simply haven’t got money to throw away, so what will happen. In this particular season, nobody bowled them out cheaply and I can remember them scoring over 300 on some occasions, but they still lost.

It really is a different world, but in the Bassetlaw, Thoresby are a rather good side. In the elegant Martin Cheshire they have one of the league’s best batsman and Nigel Burkitt has also scored plenty of runs for them. Farook Aziz is also a regular run scorer and their Australian Thomas Rickarby has not lit the world up yet, but looks to have the capabilities to make some huge scores and I feel that will happen in the second half of the season.

Their attack comprises mainly of Nyeem Ahmed and Shailesh Patel who have been stalwarts at the club for several years now. If you are looking for a bowler who has given them valuable service, look no further than Steve Willis who is a fierce competitor with the bat and also and bowls wicket to wicket, something that is not seen too often these days. Yes Thoresby will be thereabouts at the end, but would they want another season like they went through before?

A team who since making Paul Van den Heuvel skipper a couple of seasons ago have improved beyond all measures is Marshalls of Gainsborough. Van den Heuval has done a magnificent job and is another who leads by example. The team look to have several useful batsmen, but apart from the skipper they haven’t fired much in the first half of the season, but surely that will change.

They possess an attack, which on its day will take teams apart. The greatest threat possibly comes from the youngest Darren Andrews, a huge fellow for his young years. He possesses genuine pace and if he gets his run-up right he carries a threat to every one.

For variation, Gary Andrews a slow left-armer gives it a real ‘rip’ and Mark Davies still does his bit as a genuine all-rounder. They are capable of beating everyone but in the first half of the season they fell just short whilst in challenging positions. Whilst they are a very good side something tells me the final part of the jig saw is still missing and I expect them to finish around fourth place at the end of the season.

Whilst you might think I am crazy tipping a side that at the present time are in sixth place in the league, I consider Bridon to be the biggest threat to everyone else in the league. They have a wonderful mixture of youth and experience in their side and it is great to see them getting back towards the side that dominated everything throughout the 1980’s when they had six title wins.

Earlier this season I had a ‘Birds Eye’ view of them as they lost to Edwinstowe and that is precisely what they did. Edwinstowe didn’t beat them, Bridon lost the match but they look as though they have learned from that experience and have come back stronger for it. Roger Wells leads the side with style and panache and their New Zealand import, the Under 19 international Tim Muir, has proved himself to be a fine all-round player who will come on even more as the season progresses.

Wayne Spooner would be an asset for any side and his aggressive batting generally gets Bridon off to a rattling start. Rob McLeod is still capable and Will Lee is an assured young batsman who will get better and better. With the ball in addition to Muir, Matt Makings, Simon Davison and that old stalwart Colin ‘Percy’ Hurst are all very capable performers.

They also have a host of good young players and the day is coming when Bridon will be a major force once again. Perhaps it won’t be this season, but write them off at your peril.

At the start of the season I tipped Kiveton Park to be around the top at the end of the season, and whilst I feel they will finish in the top half, I also feel they will be bitterly disappointed with their efforts in the first half of the season.

They have done okay, but with the ability in their side, they should have performed a lot better. Richard Grainger, Ian Hampshire, Matty Cartwright, Rob Coxon, the Australian Ed Brown, Tim Ward and several others are all capable of posting large scores and on a wicket as good as theirs they should have done it more often.

Their attack lacks a real cutting edge and Richard Spurr has not taken as many wickets as he has in the past. However he is more than capable and may well come on strong in the second half. The rest are steady-away and whilst they will take wickets on their day they might just as easily get clobbered. I still expect them to finish in the top half, but they should have been challenging at the top.

If anyone had told me before the season started that Cutthorpe would be struggling to finish outside the bottom two places, I would have recommended that they seek admission to the ‘Funny Farm’. However it could happen as their form of late has been little short of abysmal. They still have several good batsmen such as Matt Cluer, Nigel Kingham, Rob Plested etc., but apart from the last named the degree of inconsistency has been staggering.

Last weekend from 110 for 0 wicket, they slumped to 167 all out and that would never have happened not even twelve months ago. As everyone knows, this is their last season in this league before they transfer to the Derbyshire County League and I would have thought that they would have wanted to go out with a bang rather than as a damp squib that they are looking like now!

Contrary to what some people think, I believe that Cutthorpe have been good for the Bassetlaw League and it would be a shame to see them go out so meekly. As it stands at the moment though, they are struggling like they have never done before and they need a massive turn-a-round in form to see them rise up the league.

Another major side that have been one of the pillars of Bassetlaw cricket is Retford but they still look to have the ability to climb to mid table I believe. John Musgrove skippers the side and the performances they have produced in the first half must have been disappointing to them.

Their Sri-Lankan all rounder Chandra Kumara has the word class written all the way through him like a stick of rock, and with players such as Pascal Broadley and the best wicket-keeper in the league when he is available, Micky Godber in their ranks they should be winning more matches than they are doing.

However any side that can knock off nearly 250 at Glapwell with ten overs to spare and beat Thoresby Colliery also away from home, can’t be that bad. There is no doubt that this is not the best Retford side that has ever been, but after relegation from the Premier they are re-grouping and like the Phoenix they will rise again to become a potent force.

Notts. & Arnold Amateur are in a real struggle near the bottom and apart from a brief spell, they have floundered all season. Skipper Ian Flood has scored runs and took a few wickets but not at the rate he did in previous years. Dilshan Cooray has occasionally batted well as has loyal long server Mark North.

With the ball Scott Leivers has done well on occasions, but the whole side are lacking in confidence at the moment. It is a far cry from last season when Australian Tom Elliott was scoring nine centuries in sixteen visits to the crease and one can quickly lose sight of the fact how important he was to them.

Finally at the bottom of the table Waleswood are really struggling. They started off with a crushing defeat against Retford and gave Farnsfield plenty to think about in a drawn match, but since then they have been on a downward spiral.

There can be no doubt that their left-handed all rounder Gareth Davis is a very special player. He would be an asset to any side in the league and that tells you everything. All the rest are good honest tryers but are probably playing in a section above their natural ability.

However there is always a way out and if they can beat the teams around them, then they might just earn another chance. At the moment they are in a confidence crises, they simply don’t have any, but they need to regain some quickly. This club has come a long way in a very short time and it would be a tragedy for it all to fall apart now. Good luck to them.

So that’s it. You asked for it and I have delivered. I stick by all I have said earlier and I still think it is rather good that around six clubs are still involved in a title race rather than knowing before the season starts that one of about three clubs is going to win the league simply because they have more money than the rest. It might not be everyone’s view but it is mine. It gets rather boring when you can predict things with a degree of certainty before the season starts.

I would like to make it known that this is a personal point of view and nothing to do with the Bassetlaw Cricket League who probably think completely differently to the views I have expressed. Paul Barker