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Review of 2008 - Isham 1st XI
Simon Court
So the season finished on a slight low with a loss to ON’s in a slightly contentious fashion. Seems like the ON’s academy teaches its lads how to perfect the ‘Chinese Cut’ and how they should always stand their ground, no matter how obviously they hit the ball……
That left the 1st team in a credible 4th place in the final league table, behind unbeaten winners Brixworth, Horton in second (who Isham had beaten twice) and in third Geddington who put together a late run.
I’d like to say well done and a Big Thank you to everyone who played for the 1st XI this season (all 24 of you!!). The main thing is that as a club the 2nd XI were promoted again! and the 1st XI are making good progress and were up there challenging until they stumbled at the final hurdle, loosing the final 4 games to sides that we felt we should have been able to beat. On reflection, playing sides at the bottom end of the table that need wins to stay up is not as easy as it looks on paper as S&L and Wellingborough Indians proved to us. Probably our biggest flaw this season is the inability to turns games that we can’t win into draws, then again, that’s the way Isham play which makes for positive and exciting cricket so it’s maybe not a bad thing? This is reflected in the league table which shows we scored more batting bonus points than any other side.
The other big factor that severely affected our challenge for honours was the number of serious injuries to vital players throughout the season. It all began with Shaun’s hip op which meant he was unavailable until mid August and Kalvin’s knee problem putting him out for the whole season. After an impressive first game scoring 56 we lost Will Chudley with a serious knee injury that meant he missed virtually the whole of the season. Tim Robinson then managed to break his hand in the 20Twenty match against Finedon putting him out of action for a month. George Chudley who was in good form with the bat when he badly dislocated his finger which meant he missed 5 games and finally Chris Harrison tore ligaments in his foot which meant he missed the back end of the season!! I can’t remember a year when a team has been hit by so many serious injuries to player who would be in the starting 11.
A big thanks to all those who made the step up from the 2nd XI to play for the 1st team. Players like Albert Luck, Chris Perkins, Sunil Sukhdeo, Jim Lyon, Peter Wildman, Kyle Smith, Tim Orsborn and Dean Adam all made valuable contributions when called upon. It is a good reflection on the club that when the 1st XI is short it is now able to pick players from the 2’s who can come up and actually contribute and do a good job rather than having to take fillers who bat 11 and just field which has been the case in past seasons. We now have a solid core of young players in their late teens and early twenty’s who will no doubt form the backbone of the 1st XI in the not too distant future.
As mentioned earlier, we scored more batting bonus points than any other side in the league with 6 players scoring more than 200 runs.
• Simon Court led the scoring with 650 runs @ 40.63 with consistent performances throughout the season. 4 fifties and a top score of 86 meant he had his best ever season with the bat.
• Josh Kentwell had an amazing second half of the season which meant he finished on a superb 515 runs @ 42.92 – not bad for a bowler!!
• Ben Reid, who seemed to be given out on 25 every week made 431 runs @ (yes, you’ve guessed it) 25.35 Probably not as many runs as Ben would like but undoubtedly he was the unluckiest batsman in the team this year with a number of poor decisions and unlucky dismissals.
• Chris Harrison began like a rocket; scoring 253 runs in his first 5 innings, the highlight of which was a superb 110 not out against Weekley. Falling in love and injury then restricted the second half of his season ending with 317 runs @ 28.82
• George Chudley also began the year well with a superb match saving 77 against Rothwell (our only draw of the season). As with so many others, injury put pay to a chunk of his season and restricted runs in the second half. He finished with 234 runs @ 21.27
• Nilesh Patel showed great character when he stepped up to fill the vacant opening spot that injuries had forced upon us. He admitted himself he is not a natural opener but he took it upon himself and showed some gutsy performances against the new ball, the best of which was 66 at Rothwell. A superb effort for the team scoring 229 runs @ 15.27 in difficult circumstances.
Top 10 Innings - 1st XI - 2008
110* Chris Harrison (h) vs Weekley & Warkton CC - WWCC 1st X1
86 Simon Court (h) vs S & L Corby CC - 1st XI
79* Simon Court (h) vs Kettering Town CC - 1st XI
77 George Chudley (h) vs Rothwell Town CC, Northants - 1st XI
70* Josh Kentwell (h) vs Horton House CC - 1st XI
68 Simon Court (h) vs Brixworth CC - 1st XI
66 Nilesh Patel (a) vs Rothwell Town CC, Northants - 1st XI
65 Chris Harrison (a) vs Kettering Town CC - 1st XI
63 Chris Harrison (h) vs Brixworth CC - 1st XI
62 Simon Court (h) vs Great Houghton CC - 1st XI
There were three stand out bowlers this season who took a large chunk of the wickets.
• Josh Kentwell led the way with a superb 41 wickets @ 15.49. Josh was easily the quickest bowler in the division and at time really scared the opposition with genuine pace which was highlighted with a standout 6 for 39 against Kettering.
• Andy Law once again proved how valuable he is taking 32 wickets @ 22.06. His best return for many seasons. His tally would have been even higher if it wasn’t for some seriously dodgy slip fielding – sorry Whammo!!
• Nilesh Patel showed he is definitely in the ‘All-Rounder’ bracket with 23 wickets @ 18.22 off half the overs of the other two leading wicket takers. Every time Nilesh was given the ball he took wickets at vital times in the game and his 4 for 17 against Weekley turned the game.
Top 10 Bowling Performances - 1st XI - 2008
6-39 Josh Kentwell (h) Kettering Town CC - 1st XI
5-34 Gareth Eaton (h) Weekley & Warkton CC - WWCC 1st XI
5-50 Ajaz Hussain (a) S & L Corby CC - 1st XI
5-70 Josh Kentwell (a) Old Northamptonians CC - 2nd XI
4-17 Nilesh Patel (a) Weekley & Warkton CC - WWCC 1st XI
4-20 Richard Reynolds (h) Old Northamptonians CC - 2nd XI
4-20 Richard Reynolds (h) S & L Corby CC - 1st XI
4-20 Josh Kentwell (h) Horton House CC - 1st XI
4-21 Nilesh Patel (h) Old Northamptonians CC - 2nd XI
4-26 Andrew Law (h) S & L Corby CC - 1st XI
The other members of the team to chip in with their share of wicket were Richard Reynolds – 11 wickets, Simon Court – 10 wickets, Chris Long – 9 wickets, Gareth Eaton 6 wickets and Ajaz Hussain – 6 wickets.
On reflection it has been a successful year for Isham CC which the players can be proud of. A massive well done to our Australian Overseas player Josh Kentwell. His 515 runs and 41 wickets mean he is the most successful all-round overseas player in recent years. What is equally important is the coaching he did with all the youth sections and the help he gave Groundsman Des which has hopefully set a president for future overseas players who will be expected to put something back into the club over the summer. Josh has confirmed that baring any unforeseen problems he will be back next season which is great news for the club (maybe not for the women of Northampton!!).
With hopefully fewer injuries, some new signings and the return of players like Shaun and Kalvin we can look forward to next season and mount a serious challenge for promotion into the Premier League.
Once again, Well Done to Pete and the 2nd XI on 2 consecutive promotions.Thanks again to everyone who contributed this year especially Des for putting in so much time on the ground.
See you all at winter nets……
Simon Court
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