Consett 3rd X1 Season Review 2016 by Ian Cox
Welcome to the 2016 Season Review for Consett 3rd X1. 2016 has been a fantastic year both on and off the field for Consett CC and that was certainly mirrored by the 3rd X1. With the advent of an extra senior team, The Academicals who were also due to play in the HLSCL Division 2 alongside the 3rd X1 the season promised a bright future for all.
The 3rd X1 would be the more senior of the two teams with lads who can’t play Saturdays and those who enjoy two games a week; with the Academicals being a more youth based side. Before the start of the season it was felt that the 3rd X1 should regularly be able to field a strong team comprising mainly lads who have played for the side over the last few years. Again Ian Cox would talk the reins as captain with Jack Marshall in his second season as vice-captain.
The season got off to a terrible start as on the opening weekend only one team was able to be fielded which meant the 3rd X1 would take the field against Percy Main and thanks to an understanding bunch the Academicals game was rearranged against Kimblesworth. This was the cue to blow off the cobwebs for those who turned out for the 3rd X1 and it was shown up just how rusty they were as despite posting 195/8 they were humbled by 7 wickets in what was easily their worst bowling and fielding display of the season which saw centurion Cowey dropped half a dozen times and early season thoughts of promotion looking a fair distance away.
However fortunes were to change. The end of the football and rugby seasons saw player availability become much less of a headache and finally something close to full strength teams were able to be fielded. South Shields were to be on the receiving end of the backlash in their first season in the league as batting first Consett made a season high 295/9 before dismissing the hosts for only 72 for the highest win of the season, a mere 223 runs. This good form continued against Peterlee Casuals as again strong batting saw Consett post 226/7 before running out victors by 87 runs.
This was the start of what would be an unbeaten 9 run streak in the league for the 3rd X1 with some comfortable victories and some nail biters along the way. A 43 run win over Ryton was next before a thrilling 1 wicket victory away to Whiteleas Academy followed by another tense affair at Swalwell where not only the opposition but weather were defeated for a 5 wicket victory. Rain did however spoil the day at Wearmouth when despite the best efforts of Consett who even declared; the rain came and spoiled what would have been a routine victory.
The 8th game which was indeed the midway point of the season saw a very novel and unusual game take place at Blackfyne. The 3rd X1 as the hosts would be hosting The Academicals team in a competitive league fixture. Someone may correct me but this has to be the first time in a very long time if at all that two teams from Consett have played anything other than a friendly against each other. Apart from one or two ‘moments’ it was a fantastic occasion which yielded a 6th win of the season for the Barmy Army as they ran out 123 run winners but did see a lot of promise from the younger generation in the game to suggest the future is indeed very bright!!
The cup competitions were not to be the teams forte this season however as they faced Kimblesworth in both the League Cup and The Bob Langford. The first encounter was a close affair at Kimblesworth which saw Consett lose in the last over before a spanking at home in the second one meant Cup glory was certainly not on the agenda for 2016.
Promotion and league title glory were both still very much on the agenda and next up was to be a major test against newcomers and high fliers Kimblesworth in the league. Possibly the teams most accomplished performance of the season saw them defeat the hosts in an excellent 4 wicket victory that very much made a statement for their ambitions. They followed this up with a 9 wicket demolition of Philadelphia who did everything in their power to get a perfectly playable game called off perhaps just not fancying it but thankfully a full 20 points for Consett were just the tonic.
An interesting statistic is that having played 12 games up till this point this season the team had not yet been dismissed by any of the opposition, for once a Consett team that had batting as a strength was quite a novelty. However a trip to Boldon CA was to put paid to this against a team who have quite a remarkable home record in Sunday cricket. Despite dismissing the hosts for 136 the first batting failure of the season couldn’t have come at worse time as Consett folded for just 98 ending their 9 game unbeaten run and registering their second defeat of the season. All they could do now was push for wins in remaining games to secure promotion and hope for slip ups from Kimblesworth and Littletown (who they hosted last day of the season) if they were to have any hope of league glory.
Normal service was resumed during their second trip of the season to Whiteleas as a convincing 8 wicket victory yielded a much more familiar 20 points. Annfield Plain were also blown away despite being only the second team to dismiss Consett all season. It had taken them until the second last ball of the innings and not before they had been battered for 292, the team’s second highest score of the season and second highest winning margin as a 171 run victory was secured. Bottom side Marsden, despite best efforts from both captains for a rearrangement, had no choice but to concede their fixture due to player unavailability on the day of the original fixture meaning only one game to go in what had so far been an excellent season.
The final game came with Consett still able to secure the title but it would mean having to defeat third place Littletown and hoping that sixth placed Boldon CA could run out victorious at top of the table Kimblesworth as Consett started the day 8 points behind. The Gods decided to smile on Consett on this occasion as they dismissed Littletown for 101. News then came through that Kimblesworth had been dismissed for only 99 in their fixture. Captain Cox dug in and made sure Consett got over the line and struck the winning runs in 45 not out, a perfect end to the season for the skipper before half an hour after finishing their game news emerged that Boldon CA had done the unthinkable and ran out 3 wicket victors meaning that after an excellent season CONSETT WERE CROWNED AS CHAMPIONS!!!!
A full review of each and every game is available by clicking on the result of each game on the fixtures for those who want an in depth review on a game by game basis and stats from each encounter with full scorecards also available.
A season which has seen excellent contributions throughout the team all season was a major factor in achieving such success. Several regulars mixed with a few more occasional players meant an excellent recipe for success. Jamie Bradley would finish 5th highest scorer in Division 2 with 340 runs at an average of 28.33 and one half century. Six other players scored 200+ runs over the course of the season which consistently allowed the team to post such challenging totals and make light work of run chases. Daniel Pyke the most eye catching of these as he made a season high 3 half centuries in finishing with an excellent average of 87.67 (second highest across both divisions) which saw both him and Kieran Winn (262 league runs) finish in the top 15 in the league for sun scoring.
Wicket taking was spread out amongst the team with Dave Southern (14 @ 13.07), Simon Wilkinson (16 @ 16.81), Dan Burlinson (12 @ 6.75), Jack Marshall (11 @ 8.18) and Mark Roe (17 @ 22.47) all taking 10+ wickets in the season but again the stand out performer was Jamie Bradley who finished doing top wicket taker, with 31 victims at a very impressive average of 11.13, across all formats alongside Thom Crowder of Littletown and Michael Shiel of Bill Quay, both of whom are senior players. Jamie did actually take 33 wicket but the two he took in an abandoned cup tie don’t go towards official league records but have been included on our own website as he took them so why shouldn’t he get the credit?
Simon Wilkinson would also finish third in the league for all fielding dismissals as his usual energetic self claimed 13 catches and 2 run outs with Jack Marshall down in 7th overall with 8 catches; four of which came in the game against Swalwell.
A fantastically impressive season both on and off the field with results and the social side of things very much becoming a shining light to those looking in from the outside. As ever we must give a huge thanks to those who make the games go ahead and so enjoyable to play in. Massive thanks to Julia and Lily who do such a fantastic job in keeping us fed on our home games and have done for a while now, a job very well done with the scorebook throughout the season from both Rosie and Jonny who without such good work accurate reports and records would not be possible and of course a big thanks to the ground staff and committee members who make sure that everything is in tip top shape for each and every game that takes place at Blackfyne!
Fingers crossed that this can all be built on throughout the 2017 season with most of the hard work starting now with thoughts towards the indoor bash league which we have entered into and more importantly the fitness and training programme which 2nd X1 captain Andrew Cox is drafting to help everyone be ready for the new season. I’m missing it all already and can’t wait to get started again next April and get the whites and bag back out of the cupboard. Hope this has been as enjoyable to read as it has been to write and I will see you all at some of the upcoming social events or in some capacity in and around the club.
One final one for the less mature amongst you, Oh Ian’s head…...