Saturday 4th XI Report 2011
4th XI vs Stratton on the Fosse, 5th May 2007. Photo by John Mildinhall
Where to begin, with a quick review of our season stats on play cricket it looks like this season was a monumental failure no sign of Reedo's 5-18, Andy Plummers 80's or the magnificent swashbuckling 6 hitting from an un-named member of the 4th XI.
This season started off in sparkling fashion, finally free from the shackles of Rob Miles' leadership the 4's had an influx of new talent; Matt 'the accumulator' Hobbs, James 'ear me now' Munkenenekenebebekcken, Matt 'the chat pakes', Mark 'the worst right back in the history of Gillingham' Leahy, Mark/Alan Knowles/Bisseker. A strong turn out at winter nets had left us sure that we were bound to make a go of it and finally realise some of the potential that lurks down here.
The season started much as we dreamed, with a strong bowling performance from Pearson, Munkenbeckenekekekekecekecneknecken, Tom 'the mature ladykiller' Thayer, the evergreen Clive Woodford and Reedo giving us a more than achievable chase on our hands in both of the 2 first games - Reedo managing along the way to bottle 2 hat-tricks at the final hurdle (albeit against children) - before the some steady batting saw us home. Notable knocks coming from Matt Grute with a typically steady build in the 2nd game, before Matt Pakes managed to 'hit' 3 byes for the win, a superb 48 being just desserts for his performance.
This fine start to the season put us right in contention, with something to build a season around - it looked like we'd finally got rid of some of our fielding gremlins, had found an opener with some technique (boy does he have some technique) to complement the rudimentary slashing of the middle order, as well as some bowlers with a bit of variety and genuine wicket taking promise. Then we took a trip down to Midsomer, the breaking ground of many a fine team in the past. Sadly this game set the tone for much of the rest of the season, availability reared it's ugly head, injuries started to take their toll, oh and we stopped being able to bowl. Or bat. Or field really. Had some good social, but our cricket suffered. Some fine individual performances did crop up in this patch, with Plummer proving himself a strong contender for most improved player, and Matt Hobbs showing some consistency with the bat towards the end of the season. Tom Spencer always delivered tidy bowling, Mark Leahy never gave anything less than his most acrobatic performances, even when pressed in behind the stumps with children's equipment.
This, combined with the weather, characterised most of June/July, with a notable exception being the game against fellow table proppers Claverham Youth. For a 'youth development side' these guys had some pretty shoddy morals, with their opener taking the thickest of edges and not even considering walking. This fired up the gentlemen to such an extent that we skittled them for 117. 118 to win seemed like a more than doable target and, for possibly the first time in OBWCC 4XI gentlemen's history, a contribution by each and every one of the batsmen (alright, only in the region of 10-20 runs, but a contribution nonetheless) led to us chasing this down with plenty of spare. This game also saw the first appearance of Chris 'I may drive a MASSIVE Audi Q7 with tinted windows, and yes I may know some people who know some people, but I don't do anything dodgy I promise' Shelley, who it turns out has the softest hands in the business and could catch a baby, and Neel Khimji popping in for a quickfire guest 6-18.
Following some league shenanigans, our final game saw us up against the table toppers, needing a win to secure the title. With the wicket looking like an end of season wicket, and the side feeling like a side that had seen some struggles, we managed to give them a real go of it, putting some runs on the board and giving them a bit of a scare on their way to the title. While we may not have beaten them their skipper did express some surprise that we resided down in the depths, and this showed that we were capable of playing some decent stuff, belying our lowly status as whipping boys of the league.
As Martin and I look back over this season I think that the what stands out for us, not the results, not the Gentlemen's tweed social (although that was bloody excellent, pip pip), not the struggles of getting a side together, but the new people we've built into the nucleus of the side, as well as the resurgence of Messrs Pearson, Plummer, Grute, Spencer, we can now add the likes of Hobbs, Pakes, Munk, Leahy, Knowles/Bisseker et al. This, above all the rest of it, gives us that glimmer of hope that next year we can finally, finally, build upon what we know to be the core of a decent side and actually demonstrate this on the field.
Last thing from me, many thanks to everybody who has turned out for the 4's this year, and I look forward to seeing you all back in nets in a few short months.
Cheers
Martin Reed
