Skipper happy with top four finish
STRATFORD Cricket Club could be title contenders with a few additions to the squad according to skipper James Urquhart , reports David Lawrence.
Speaking at the club’s annual presentation evening, he also praised his side after their fourth-place finish in the Premier Division of the Warwickshire League.
“It would be good to have a few more to add to the squad because we do suffer if we lose three or four players,” he explained. “Doing that would allow us to move a few places up the table but I’m a happy captain with fourth - you can’t be disappointed with a Champions League spot.”
Nearly 100 players and guests attended the event at Stratford Sports Club with a number of awards being presented.
And Urquhart reflected on what had been an ‘up-and-down’ season for the first team.
He added: “Given the situation we found ourselves in after four games when we’d lost three on the bounce, I’m happy with fourth overall. We had relegation talks at one point in the season so to be challenging for promotion at one stage was very pleasing particularly considering that, unlike nearly all the other teams, we didn’t have an overseas player. I think it was a fantastic achievement overall and sets us up nicely for next year.
“If we can level things up in terms of an overseas then we might be potential dark horses. Many of the teams we speak to say we are one of the best teams in the league and team is the key word there as we don’t really have weak links.
“We lost quite a lot of our white ball games in the early stages. We then had a really good middle part with the red ball and then lost two on the bounce when we returned to the white ball but then we won the last three. It’s fairly new to us all - it’s only been part of the league for three seasons - and we’re not really a big-hitting team so it might take us a while to see how we play the white ball game.
“The season has been a learning curve for the team and for me in my first season as captain. It’s all about trying to not overthink things which is certainly something I was guilty of in the early stages. It is no coincidence then when we went on a winning run, the top five batsmen were settled. They know their role and they know what happens. Their preparation is so much easier.
“One thing I’ve learnt is not to chop and change so much but obviously that depends on who is available. In an ideal world I would have the same XI every week.”
One of the key awards handed out on Friday evening was to Neel Ammanath who was named sportsman of the year.
Urquhart added: “The likes of Neel has been the perfect example of someone rising to the first team. At the start of the season he was playing third team cricket but he then turned out for the second team and finished the season with the first team - and not just playing but holding his own with an average of 35. It is great we are having those players filter through.”
Other award winners were John Stratton who was named 1st team players of the year, Simon Heath (2nd team player of the year), Sam Gill (3rd team player of the year) and Ed Wye (junior player of the year).
The women’s player of the year was Lauren Hope with Phoebe Ross being named their most improved player while the club person of the year trophy was presented to Jonathan Drake.
