A Review of the 1992 Season
by Michael Blake
Under new 1st XI Captain Peter Tarrant there was a slight improvement in the League position, and a more competitive team showed a new determination especially in the batting with Richard Alston scoring over 700 League runs including two centuries against Hutton and Southend and nearly a third – with 96 v Orsett.
The 2nd XI under Phil Joslin flattered to deceive – top of the table at the end of June only to fall away as availability declined to end a disappointing 13th. Mainstays of the batting were Des Piper, John Woodland and Graham Norgate who all averaged over 30.
Conversely the 3rd XI under Jeff Runciman improved as the season went on and would have finished a highly creditable 4th but for a slight clerical problem regarding how best to describe the match balls! (Jeff had apparently made some derogatory comments about the League balls one week on the League Sheet, then refused to comment on them the next saying he had already said what needed saying – and we were docked points by the League for not submitting a ball report !) On the field Joe Corrall and Martin Kerr took the batting honours.
We fielded an Extra 3rd XI throughout the season and there was considerable enjoyment and success under the leadership of Trevor Milne.
On Sundays the highlight of a generally successful season was the tight Evening Standard Trophy win over a strong Beckenham side.
We returned to Devon for another Tour with five competitive games taking place and we stayed in Exmouth – the only problem being Richard Alston hitting 95not out in the Monday match against Exmouth on the County Ground - and they left his score up on the scorebox all week ! Unfortunately there haven’t been any "outdoor" Chingford Tours since.
Finally 1992 ended on a sad note for Chingford with the death of Terry Dennehy after a short illness. Terry had been a popular and active member of the club for over 30 years and was still to be found regularly taking wickets in the 2nd XI as well as successfully coaching and running the colts section. There was the most magnificent turn out at his funeral.
The data on the scorecards has been lifted from a variety of press cuttings, scorebooks and old records. Where the team totals are unclear I’ve entered it as a default 100 or so, and where the method of dismissal is unclear I’ve added it as Hit Wicket and where the exact number of overs is unclear it’s a default 10 ! Hope you enjoy reminiscing and let me know of any gaps in the data we can plug!