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1st XI by Ted Lester
The 1st XI's season has been best described by the League Secretary himself. In his annual report to the League AGM he wrote "Menston CC were, in many respects, one of the teams of the season in 1st XI cricket."
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2nd XI by Carl Hutton
The 2nd XI had a very enjoyable and successful season. In finishing in the top half of the 'B' Division the team enjoyed its highest league finish for a number of years.
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A number of players enjoyed success with the bat and ball, with five players featuring in the end of season League averages. The side continued to develop its competitive reputation, an image that reflected well against a number of the more volatile teams in the Division. The main negative point for the season was the diminishing number of players able or prepared to turn out for the 2nd XI. A full side was turned out every week, but on several occasions this was only managed by getting the assistance of Under 13 players, social cricketers or players' relatives. It is hoped that new players can be encouraged to join the club to resolve this problem for the future.
The 2nd XI started the season strongly, featuring in the top 3 in the Division for most of the first half of the season. This was largely due to the team batting very well as a unit. The side posted a number of high scores and developed a knack of successfully chasing high totals, the two most memorable occasions being scoring 211 for 9 courtesy of a Maurice Garforth 6 to beat Thackley (away) and scoring 237 to beat Collingham (away) with 8 overs remaining. This last total would not have been possible with out a magnificent 145* by John Bradley,which was the highest score posted by any player in the 'B' Division all season. Other players who enjoyed good seasons with the bat again included Mike Pratt who had a number of important knocks during the season; Richard Feltbower who continued to develop his reputation as one of the best batsmen in the league; and Paul Smith, who was by far the most improved player in the team, featuring in the league batting averages for the first time. With a number of players such as Richard Galling, Michael Heaton and Carl Hutton playing significant cameo innings at various times during the season, the batting line-up competed well against most bowling attacks in the league.
Throughout the season the team fielded between 6 and 8 competent bowlers in each match, these resources proving at times to be both a help and a hindrance. Against some of the more accomplished sides in the league the bowling line-up lacked a cutting edge, failing to take key wickets and slowing run rates. Ian Myers got 50 wickets for the second time in three seasons. As the most consistent bowler in the side he bowled by far the most overs of any player. Mike Pratt, Ben Cooper and Richard Feltbower (though hampered by injury throughout the season) all enjoyed success with the ball at different times but the team's lack of consistency when bowling against the better sides saw a number of points and games lost. For next season it is hoped that conditions will enable the slow bowling of Richard Galling and Carl Hutton to have a greater impact next year and that one of the many competent bowlers in the side can develop into the consistent match winner the team needs to make further progress in the league.
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He did then waffle a wee bit but finished by writing "all credit must go to the Captain and the Officers of the Club for their tremendous efforts last year". Rumour has it that Thack has put Mr Clayton back on his Christmas card list - but I have not had this confirmed!
Seriously though, I would hereby wish to thank those 'Officers of the Club' for the tremendous work they do behind the scenes, from selection to ground, through to finance and social. The committee has been functioning very well and solid progress on many issues has been made. Long may this continue.
We started superbly with wins against five out of the first six teams and it was great to be at the top for a few weeks, with all the circuit talk being about how could such a band of hapless and inadequate individuals be playing so well. The answer was simple and came in four parts: 1) we batted well 2) we bowled well 3) we held all our catches and 4) we enjoyed ourselves.
Eventually we did run out of steam, mainly due to a series of dropped catches and unavailability, but also through injuries and the overall strength of the competition winners Bilton. However I feel that this last season has been our very best in Division 'A' for many years and we finished a splendid season in 4th place (above Guiseley once again!) with many of the players having had quality seasons. It is interesting to note that our expenditure on players was less than 10% than that of Bilton and I know they won the title, but I guarantee they did not have any where near the fun that we did!!
There were many outstanding individual performances, all of which helped the side play exciting, enjoyable cricket throughout the marvellous weather we had last summer. Indeed many umpires commented to me that it was a pleasure to officiate at our games, as they were always played in excellent spirit, quality cricket was always on offer AND we always played every game with one eye 'on the clock', never wishing to finish a moment later than we had to.
At this point I want to thank all the ladies of the club who helped with the teas during the season, without their excellent and continued support the club would be in a desperate position.
Finally, tonight I step down as captain for the 4th or 5th time, I forget which, but it WILL be the last. May I thank all those who have helped me do the job over the 15 seasons or so I have done it and I wish Swinny Thornton the very best of luck for 2004.
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