Chingford Cricket Club

After our first year in the Peter May Centre, we were asking many questions whether we wanted to continue in the 1st division as we had only won 2 of our games from 11 and many were discontent with the slab of rubber with no seam that we were having to play with, especially Carey Harborne and Harty.

But after our second year in the league things could not be more different as we conclude our season. Thanks to Graem, Thorneberg and Harty my first season as captaincy has been a breeze, firstly as during last year's summer season awareness was raised about the indoor league meaning that many 1st eleven players made themselves available, which with no disrespect to the likes of Bagpuss, Harty and Carey, provided massive improvement to the side. Also I have always been able to pick who I have wanted and have been fortunate with a core of 9 players who have been constantly available. Our record at the end of the season was, Played 11, Won 10, Lost 1 (Newham Sixth Form B), 101 points, and finishing in second place behind the very fortunate Walthamstow A who ended up winning the league. This is obviously a vast improvement on the previous year's attempts.

To put the strength of our side into context, my squad consisted of Myself, Nick Shawyer, Jamie Hill, 'Maccy' Meade, Shaun McMurray, Kerry 'Chuckie' Marriott, Graem Peters, Paul Shawyer and Greg Hales (Get well soon mate).

In my opinion, we had the best bowling attack in the league with myself, Maccy and Nick chipping in to help out the two best bowlers in the league, 'Chuckie' and Shaun to rip through sides with consummate ease on occasions, which was needed as our batting although improving as the season progressed with consistently good performances from Jamie Hill, Myself and 'Maccy' was always the thorn in our side as we scored a few low scores that had to be rescued by our bowling.

Our greatest victory this year was beating a Walthamstow A side which had not lost an indoor game for over 2 years. We batted first and attained a reasonable score of over 100, but it was very attainable. In reply Walthamstow only needed 6 to win off the last over with only one wicket left. With 'Chuckie' bowling they brought the run chase to needing 3 off 2 balls. On the penultimate ball, they played the ball in to the corner and ran, with a direct hit from myself we ran the non-striker out by a yard gifting us victory by 2 runs. Now not only did we beat their B side indoors but also now their A side indoors. Not only that but we had a winning draw and a comprehensive win against them in the 1st eleven outdoors, and they were relegated so obviously there is only one team in East London.

Now for the end of season awards:

Best Catch; Nick Shawyer (off the ceiling against Asians)

Best Bowling Performance; Shaun McMurray (3 for 8 off 3 overs against Woodford Green)

Best Batting Performance; Ben MacGregor (45 not out against Wanstead B)

Surprise Performance; Jamie 'Yorker' Hill (2 for 22 off 2 overs against Walthamstow A)

Overall the season was a huge success as we helped to prove that Chingford is now most definitely a force to be reckoned with indoors and outdoors. Many thanks to the whole squad making captaincy very easy as there were always game winning performances in every game from different players each week, and their availability was excellent making selection very easy indeed.

Next year we win the title, unbeaten!

Chingford B

by Graem Peters

The pre-season target for the Bs was to achieve promotion to Division 1. Chingford had managed just this, two seasons ago with a side including Paul Hart, Stephen Thorne, Carey Harborne and Richard Alston who were all available this season. Paul Hart was taken out of the Bs from the outset, when he agreed to captain the C Team.

Stephen Thorne captained the B team, which in it’s first match included David Joslin, Richard Alston, Dan Carver and Nasser Rashid, all of whom were to end up playing in the C Team. There was much more player fluidity between the B and C teams than between the A and B teams. Only Richard Alston and Graem Peters were to play in the A team and no A team player ever came down to the B team. C team performances from Richard MacGregor and Mark Campbell forced them into the B team around the halfway point at the expence of Richard Alston and Dan Carver.

The B team won 6 games and lost 5 to finish mid table. Had they not won the match against the C team, they would have finished below the C team. Losing to Ilford by 8 runs in late January ended their prospects of promotion. However, the season really turned in December when they lost in two consecutive weeks to Frenford and Ford Sports in games that could have gone either way.

Batting

Peter Joslin was the leading batsman. He scored 161 runs, more than anyone else and averaged 23 per innings, more than anyone else apart from Michael Haigh who averaged 24.5 from 3 innings. More importantly, he reached 25 on three occasions, never an easy feat at Wanstead Leisure Centre. Had he been available for the Frenford and Ford Sports matches, then the season might have finished a lot better for the B team.

With an average of 16, Graem Peters was equally as consistant with the bat. Three times in 7 innings he passed 20 without reaching 25, twice in matches which the Bs may well have won if he had reached that target. However, after 7 matches he spent the remainder of the season keeping wicket in the A team, missing the losses against Ilford and South Loughton A.

Mark Campbell’s batting for the Cs had won him a place in the Bs and apart from his 33 scored against the leagues champions, South Loughton A, could not sustain his C team form. When Richard MacGregor came up from the Cs, he made an immediate impact with the bat with 39* v South Loughton B. In the second half of the season, however, his fortune with the bat went AWOL.

Stephen Thorne made occasionally useful contributions with the bat. Nasser Rashid with an innings of 42* v Ilford nearly turned that match for us. Throughout the season, there was always the feeling that the batting was letting us down rather than the bowling.

Bowling

With 15 wickets in 13 matches for both B and C teams, Richard MacGregor was the leading bowler. His 4-5 v Stort, 2-13 v Walthamstow C and 0-10 v Chingford C were his better performances for the Bs, all in winning causes.

Opening the bowling, Peter Joslin was rarely collared and picked up useful wickets, going for less than 8 runs an over throughout the season as a whole.

Stephen Thorne had some very good days and some poor days with the ball. Nasser Rashid threatened to go through many sides with his extra pace, but his spells were often derailed by problems no balling. Dan Carver started the season in good bowling form but lack of runs and unavailability meant he spent the rest of the season in the Cs.

The bowlers did particularly well given that Stephen Thorne rarely had a fifth bowling option to fall back on if one bowler ran into difficulties.

Fielding

Wanstead is not the easiest of arenas in which to gather the ball quickly. However, some of the more senior fielders like Peter Joslin, Richard MacGregor and Graem Peters had their moments running players out with direct throws.

Keeping

Despite Richard Alston struggling with his batting, his keeping form was of a standard high enough to get him selected for a match in the A team. Graem Peters kept for one match. When Richard dropped to the C team, Mark Campbell came up and took over the gloves, keeping reliably throughout the second half of the season.

Conclusion

Finishing 5^thout of 12 seems average. However, the top 2 sides were not that much better than most of the other sides in the Division. Whilst it may have been optimistic to expect the B team to win promotion at the first attempt, it may not be next season. If Chingford can maintain a pool of players next season as large as this seasons, and if those players can be more available, the chance will be there. Then it will just be a matter of getting the selection right and asking the C Team skipper to play ball.