2nd XI Match Report | Cobham Avorians Cricket Club

Second XI Season Report

Avorians XIs enjoyed a pretty good season in a ‘curate’s egg’ sort of way. At the end of May five points from five games hardly suggested what was to come. In football parlance we ‘went on a run’, winning eight from ten including five in a row. Then the wheels fell off as promotion beckoned and a streak of poor form consigned the XIs to nearly men.

The bowlers were undoubtedly the main stay of the team, led admirably by Ejaz Hussein who took fifty wickets including five ‘five fors’ or better. Ejaz was supported by Steve Munday, Daniel Lane and the enigmatic Nathan Moore, all of whom had their days. The team lacked a spinner, although Graham Crawford made the art look easy on the odd occasion he turned out for the XIs. The catching wasn’t bad for an ageing team, John Lane took 12 in the outfield and skipper Geoff Ellis hung on to most of the nicks.

The batting lacked consistency. Nobody apart from Mark Barrow could be relied on for runs and some of the best performances came from the fleeting visits of the extra first team player.

The low point of the season was a miserably bad tempered match at Leatherhead, spoiled by ‘sledging’, neither side being completely blameless. All captains have a responsibility to stamp this sort of behaviour out before the game deteriorates. But all in all it was fun. With a touch more commitment, better availability early season and a spinner we could do better next year.

Finally, I would like to thank John Millet for his excellent umpiring and send my congratulations to the first XI on their excellent achievement. We look forward to the recruitment of new players who will hopefully be attracted to our club through our recently gained premier league status. We also hope that competition for a place in the first XI will benefit the second XI who ought to be able to build on a solid 2003 and achieve promotion next year.

Roll on April!

Geoff Ellis, Captain 2nd XI

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