| The 2020 season, despite the shortened format, was a successful one for the 2nd XI as we debuted in the Premier Division. We finished 4th in Group 14 of the Challenge Cup, 3 points of 2nd place winning 4 won and losing 3 of our 7 fixtures. The majority of the games we played were very close and could have gone either way, with dramatic wins against Wimbledon away and East Moseley at home to end the season. We also could (and probably should) have won away at Reigate Priory and home to Banstead. The Reigate Priory game will live long in my memory as I watched their last wicket partnership put on over 100 to win the game. It’s also worth noting that of the 4 games we lost, only 2 of them were full 40 over games. Safe to say that T20 isn’t our best format! Notable performers with the bat were Jack Slaney who scored 2 fifties in 2 games before being promoted to the first team, Oli John who scored a fifty in the second game of the season at home to Banstead and Ruari Crichard, who scored a valiant unbeaten half century in the defeat to Banstead. And of course the old warhorse, Hoppo, who was our leader run scorer again! Our real strength this season was with the ball and many of our opposition commented on the all-round strength of our attack. Ruari Crichard and Tom Brown were an excellent new ball paring and were supported very well by the young quartet of Jonathan Miles, Oli Baker Angus Barrett & Jack Fletcher. The seamers were expertly backed up by the returning veteran Dan Taylor who bowled excellently throughout the season and two wins as skipper under his belt, as he never tires of reminding me. The stand-out individual performance of the season has to be Tom Brown’s hat-trick at Reigate Priory as he removed their opener, number 3 and number 4 to put us in complete control of the game. Sadly, we couldn’t get over the line (sorry chaps) but dominating the eventual competition winners proved how competitive we were this season and hope to be again, with a full 16 games, next season. Roll on 2021! |
