A season to savour for Alcester & Ragley Park Cricket Club

ALCESTER & Ragley have enjoyed great success this season, with their first and second XIs securing promotions in the Cotswold Hills League.

The 1sts will make the return to the Premier Division after an absence of three years, while the second string are going up as champions of Division Four South.

Darren Kok, in his second year as skipper, has led the team to a second-placed finish in Division One this season.

It has been a positive campaign for the side that won many of their games in the final over, with four going down to the very last ball.

What must also be mentioned is the team's average age was in the low 20s, with eight players having come through the junior section to feature regularly.

Matt Greenway finished as the leading scorer with 450 runs, while Kok claimed the highest individual score with 92 against Moreton-in-Marsh.

Chris Dawson claimed the honour of leading wicket-taker with 21, although there were seven other bowls who claimed more than 11 league wickets.

Kok had the best return with the ball of the season with 6-22, while Jethro Powell also claimed a best figure of 5-40.

Meanwhile, the 2nds dominated the division and, after winning their first eight games of the season, they finished with 12 victories from 14 games to claim top spot by 38 points.

The side was led by David Stokes who is in his first full season at the club.

Stokes led by example as he scored 370 runs and also won the league's bowling award with 27 wickets.

The batting was strong with an excellent strength in depth that saw nine different players make a half-century.

The bowling was similar and a star for the future looks to be 13-year-old Kobe Turner, who took 13 wickets and scored 200 runs for the 2nds, before being called up to the 1sts for the last few games of the season.