A mixed year with some weekends struggling to get sides out right up until the last League game of the season when we put out one of the strongest sides to beat Otford. We finished 5th in the division having played 18, won 7, lost 9 with 2 abandoned.
During the season we lost a couple of experienced players to injuries but delighted to see some return towards the end. Early on in the season we welcomed Iqbal Sidhu to the club – a great player with a good awareness of the game – along with another new member, Bob Mason.
As always it was good to see the youngsters make themselves available: Miga Steyn bowled well throughout and took wickets in all but one of the 2nd XI matches. Adam Pinnell – bowled really well, often opening for us with best of 2 for 22 against Shoreham. Ben Roberts – bowled well including 2/4 against Bearsted and fielded solidly. Paddy Hagger’s wicket keeping improved greatly and good to see James Roche return for the end of season to put in some good bowling performances.
During the season we were grateful for some loans from both Bidborough and Linden Park, but special thanks to Max Harrison, James Woodmansee, Reece Denton, Joe Price, Ben Watts, Hugh Harman and Alex Maynard, who all made valuable contributions throughout the season – the latter two nearly hitting us to a dramatic victory at Eynsford.
However, there is one younger player who I have saved for last: Tom Hinton. Tom excelled in all three areas of the game as well as making himself available for almost every match. His best performance was against Otford with 114* and Shoreham with 91* and 5-30 – a performance with either bat or ball (or both) in every game. He finished 2nd in Division 7 batting standings with 567 runs at an average of 52. I had no hesitation in naming him the 2nd XI Player of the Season.
Thanks to everyone involved, see you again next year!
David Harris, 2nd XI Captain
Speldhurst Cricket Club 