No clear favourites in South Notts title race
by Phil Johnson, 28th April 2008

The 2008 Gunn and Moore South Notts League begins in earnest this week with Division A being devoid of clear favourites for the golden ticket to the Premier League. In a season totally ruined by the inclement weather, Calverton finished runners up last season. However they may find it difficult to improve on this with no overseas player and the loss of veteran bowler Tim Haines to Caythorpe. Much will be expected of youngsters Billy Armstrong and Tom Wright to step up to the mark this season.

 Dark horses for the title could well be Attenborough who despite finishing an under par seventh in 2007, have made some useful additions. Firstly they have acquired an overseas player in the form of South African Craig Woods who is a top order batsman and spin bowler. Keeper Joe Gates has relocated to Crewe, but has been replaced by Chris Evans who has experience on the County Second Eleven Circuit. With promising bowler Dom Harvey looking a menace in training and Alex McKinlay expected to be available all season, Attenborough may well surprise a few people.

Long Eaton were there or thereabouts last season and Umar Hassan is returning for a fifth season.  They can also rely on runs from skipper Brett Scothern  but may lack the strength in depth to go all the way. 

If form in the second half of last season is an indication then Newstead Village would be one of the favourites thanks to some outstanding performances with both bat and ball from Pakistani Tariq Mahmood. Unfortunately, Tariq is not returning but skipper Andy Paulson is extremely hopeful of another overseas joining them this week. Simon Milham has moved to America so much will be expected of Andy Graham, Paul Nott and Nick Rose in the batting department.

 Balderton had a bright start last season but faded somewhat after July. Nevertheless Ishan Ratnayake is returning with a place in the Sri Lankan A side waiting for him on his return. Seventeen year old left arm bowler Harry Shepherd joins from Collingham but the side still looks a little light in batting, despite the excellent performances of Tim Clipsham in 2007.

Both Radcliife on Trent and Southwell stayed up on the last game of the season with a thrilling tie. For Radcliffe Brad Moses, a batsman from South Africa replaces the inconsistent Waddington Myawanga. Southwell have spent the winter improving facilities at their picturesque ground meaning that an overseas player hasn’t been high on the list of their priorities. They have also lost Alistair Haynes to Farnsfield. Both clubs will be relying on home grown talent for any success.

Now we turn to the three new clubs. Notts Unity Casuals are a bit of an unknown quantity with coming down from the Premier League. They seem to hold a number of promising youngsters who found the Premier League a bridge too far in 2007. The side will be captained by Andrew Jackman, formerly of West Indian Cavaliers  and life certainly will not be dull at Lenton Lane with the appointment of club stalwart Jit Jani as first team manager.

Gedling and Sherwood have certainly not rested on their laurels as they prepare for their first season in the top flight. They have recruited Indian batsman Samrat Sharma from Ellerslie and opening bowler Alex Kelly from Clifton Village. Simon Smith and Kiwi Jason Giblett are now injury free so survival should be the least of their targets.   

Keyworth have no overseas player at present but in Ian Graham they will have one of the leagues outstanding talents. Liam Sanders has returned to the club but batsman Chris Ladd has relocated to Wiltshire whilst Grant Parker may have to return to Australia in July.

Down to Division B and the unluckiest team last season had to be Rolls Royce Leisure. After being in the top two for the majority of the season, they lost out on the last day of the season with defeat to Keyworth. However, they have done their upmost not to miss out in 2008 by recruiting four players. The Karim brothers, Salim and Wasim return to the club from Carrington Caribs whilst Richard Arberry and keeper Matt Faulkener join from Papplewick.  Add this to Waheed Khan and Steve Gregory being more available and it would be hard to bet against them returning to the division they left in 2005.

It may be a different picture for relegated Ellerslie who have to do without the services of Samrat Sharma. Skipper Eddie Pidduck wants to consolidate this season and will do so without Gavin Johnson who has left the club, rejoining though is Richard Johnson.

Eastwood could count themselves slightly unlucky to go down last year with 11 of their 18 games being cancelled or abandoned. In skipper Neil Gregory they will have one of the leagues best batsmen and Ikram Ul Haq, Ejaz Ahmed and Saeed Ahmed should all do well. Squad member Jordan Lee has also joined from local rivals Kimberley.

The success of Clifton Village and Kimberley Seconds will mainly depend on first team availability. Both teams have new captain. Alex Turner is in charge at Clifton, though Luke Gunn will hold the fort until Alex returns from University. Fifteen year old Notts Academy player Adam Shepherd should spend most of his time in the first team after impressing in the seconds last season. Kimberley will be captained by Andy Platts. Andy was an opening batsmen in Kimberley’s golden era in the mid nineties and returned to play in 2007 after a decade out the game. With the first team acquisitions of Josh Mangan, Nick Langford, and Dan Mason, it may mean that the talents of Vaughan Hamilton and Alex Heslop will bolster the second team.

Loughbrough Carillon always seem to start well but then fade somewhat when the University players return home.  However, it may be a different story this year as John Harrison returns on a gap year, he will be joined by student and Surrey U19 all rounder Chris Peploe and Cameron Sutton who should be available for the majority of the season.

Bottesford had a mixed season last year and Jim Ward replaces Simon Claricoates as skipper. Simon is not expected to feature this season. The club have recruited Mike Fowler, an all rounder from Lincolnshire whilst hopes are high for youngsters Phil Irvine and Lee Fazackerley to make an impact this season.

Kirkby Portland finished last season strongly and they have added Gary Devonshire to their ranks from local rivals Newstead Village. Gary will add much needed to weight to the slow bowling department. Also coming in is all rounder Anthony Booth from Riddings.

It was too close to call for Gotham in 2007 as they retained their Division B status on the final day with a win over Collingham. Popular New Zealander Brad Moore is retuning to the club as skipper although Kevin Perrell will hold the fort for the first couple of weeks. Kevin Brown also joins from Chilwell and will double up on the coaching side. There will be a few anxious moments though in May and June as no fewer than eight players will be at University.

Finally newcomers  Belvoir will have Andy Mitchell as their star performer. There are also some good young players coming through and it will be interesting to see how Richard Gadd, Tom Neville and Jack Copley react to the higher level. James Needle is also available after finishing University as is ex Bottesford bowler Matt Irvine whose 2007 was wrecked by injury.