Winchmore Hill C.C.
On line shop

Click logo
 

Visitors since 5 March
23575 last year
22555 2006
16089 2005

Local Weather - Five day forecast

LATEST NEWS

........Ealing overcome Hill 1st XI at Corfton Road.....2s off the mark with draw at home to Richmond.....3s and 4s lose out.....Dan Amedee 6-26 sends Hill through to next round of Middlesex Cup.....Regional Final of the National this Sunday versus Cambridge Granta.....SUPPORT WELCOME.....This week's sponsors are Bang & Olufsen, Winchmore Hill.....Twenty20 group final against North Middlesex or North London, date TBA.....wear the club colours - visit the online shop and place your order now.....
 

THIS WEEK'S MATCH SPONSORS



Bang and Olufsen
733 Green Lanes - Winchmore Hill - London - N21 3RX
0208 360 5088

Welcome to the Cricket section of the Winchmore Hill website. This is the home for one of the most successful - and friendliest - clubs in the Middlesex League and other competitions.

After a successful 2008, WHCC is aiming to make 2009 even better. We are keen to welcome new members, across the board, and are looking to strengthen from our First XI to our Fifth XI. If you want to play at a lovely ground, with great practice and playing facilities and with a sociable group who play competitive cricket, please get in touch as soon as possible.

Our league rules do not permit us to field overseas players who have played first class cricket, nor do they permit us to play professionals. We are also limited to five overseas players in our top three XIs on a Saturday. Please e-mail enquiries to whcc@lineone.net

Review of 2008 Season
As I sit and reflect on the season that was, it is with immense pride and satisfaction that I can view the 2008 season as a successful one for the 1st XI.  With a new captain, several key players from seasons gone by missing for one reason or another and the team seemingly written off by many, our final league position of fifth place including seven wins was a superb effort.

Pre season showed signs of promise but when the real games began reality was soon to bite.  An opening day trouncing at the hands of Hampstead coupled with a wash out and a heartbreaking penultimate ball loss to Eastcote meant that the 1st XI had one point from thirty with the next four games against the leagues superpowers Ealing, Finchley, Brondesbury and Teddington.

The Ealing and Finchley games were the watershed moments for the team this season.  Big decisions were made in terms of selection.  It was clear that the side needed to be greater than the sum of its parts, a tight unit, with everyone pulling in the same direction.  With the benefit of hindsight it is pleasing to reflect on these decisions knowing that the end justified the means.  Ealing were blown away for 118 with Hill racing to their first win of the season in no time with Oli Adamson and Andy Varley batting superbly.  It's worth noting that this was Ealing's (who went on to win their fourth title in a row) sole league loss of the season.

Buoyed by this victory Hill entertained Finchley the following week but were soon brought back down to earth being dismissed for just 113.  What happened next will stay with me forever as first Dan Amedee and then Jamie Thorpe (assisted by some superb fielding) skittled Finchley for just 101 in what I regard as the finest game of cricket in which I have ever played.  Thankfully, there were to be several more highlights as the season progressed.

Defeats at Bron and against Teddington highlighted the need for the batsmen to show more application before resounding victories over Brentham by 190 runs (including 6-9 for Jamie Thorpe) and Southgate by ten wickets (five more for Thorpe as Southgate were dismissed for 69) placed Hill in lower mid table at the half way point.

Week ten saw us lose at Hampstead but from that point onwards we remained undefeated in the league meaning the initial objective of simply staying in the Premier League was achieved with weeks to spare.  Draws against Stanmore, Eastcote and Ealing showed more evidence that the team was becoming more battle hardened and streetwise and this coupled with outstanding wins over Bron at home and away at Teddington meant that we had beaten all of the top sides.  The Teddington game was a belter with Danny Barker and Adam Howorth putting on 47 for the tenth wicket to steer us home for the unlikeliest of wins. 

The final few weeks saw us break the club record for a Middlesex League game by posting 329-4 declared against Brentham in another comfortable win before rain denied us a fourth victory in a row at near neighbours Southgate who were relegated.

In the cups we were very disappointed to be knocked out of the Standard by Orpington in a game we should definitely have won.  The National saw us reach the Regional Semi Finals before losing to a strong High Wycombe side although again it was a game I feel we ought to have won.  Our Middlesex Cup campaign ended at the hands of Finchley at the semi final stage.

Now the players.  After the initial shaky start they were magnificent to a man responding time and again to the challenges placed in front of them.  The dressing room was a happy yet committed one and there is no doubt in my mind that our superior team spirit helped us through the dark early days of the campaign.  Individual successes (and there were many) were celebrated by all but overall the team always came first.

The bowling was superb all season.  Jamie Thorpe shouldered much of the early burden and went on to take 33 league wickets with his pace and swing.  Dan Amedee, the scourge of many teams in the league took 27 wickets and also contributed some useful runs - he can be a genuine all rounder of the highest calibre next season.  Danny Barker, often derided but always reliable, took 17 wickets, held 10 slip catches and won the game for us at Teddington with the best 36 not out I have ever seen.  Jim Gatting, Adam Howorth and Oli Adamson all took important wickets when the time arose.

Then there was Darrel Brown.  His arrival not only balanced the bowling attack but gave the team a much needed shot in the arm.  He took 31 league wickets and at times bowled with real pace and hostility.  Batting wise he averaged just under 40 and his commitment to the cause and ability to fit into the dressing room despite a late arrival was of inestimable value.  He was rightly voted the Player's Player of the Season.

Elsewhere in the batting Oli Adamson and Jim Gatting led the way, both scoring close to 500 league runs.  Both scored a league hundred as did Neil Hurst who also got one in the cup.  Adamson's destructive hitting and Gatting's neat and tidy innings building ability were both key factors in the team's success.  Elsewhere Andy Varley contributed useful runs, wise counsel and a bucket load of slip catches, while Morgan Prior also weighed in with some fine innings' and held some key catches, none more so than against Finchley in the home league win. 

Indeed, fielding was a real feature of the team's cricket all season.  Varley, Hurst, Adamson and Prior all staked claims for catch of the season but the star of the show both in terms of dismissals (31 in the league alone) and contribution to the team overall was wicket keeper Sacha Selveratnam who was very much the heartbeat of the side.

So that was the season that was.  The team have proved that they can compete with the best.  The next challenge is to build on the good work of this season.  There are still many areas where improvements can be made and these will be necessary of Winchmore Hill are to sustain a real challenge for silverware in the years ahead.  If the club infrastructure is run properly and players show the kind of commitment that was very much in evidence this season then exciting times lay on the horizon.  If not then tougher times lay ahead.  It is down to us all as club members to choose the right path.

Neil Hurst
1st XI Captain
September 2008

 [updated 7 September 2007]