71
The build up to the 2015 season was an exciting one.
Our preseason training proved to be very productive with
the young lads putting in some strong performances, not
only on the Barbados Tour, but also in the warm up matches
this side of the Atlantic, all be it in slightly colder conditions.
We had a group of very talented lads who were eager to
showcase their talents.
The season on the whole proved how skillful some of our
young cricketers are with some memorable performances
from not only our professionals but also our young
Academy players alike. The Academy played a crucial role
in the 2nd XI with a number of the lads making their debuts
- Ben Brooks, Liam Banks and George Panayi whilst other
more senior Academy players stepping up and making
match winning performances. This is not only a testament
to how strong our Academy is but also the Clubs policy of
looking towards our own before going out of County to find
a player.
Championship
(Including friendly games)
We played some very exciting cricket though out the
whole of the competition, recording wins when our backs
were against the wall. This is testament to the teams’ mental
strength and fight even when for a large part of the season
we were quite inexperienced.
We finished mid table but this could have be a whole lot
different as lady luck went against us with:
- MCC Universities game abandoned without a ball
being bowled due to a pavilion fire at The Parks,
Oxford.
- Losing a whole day and a session against Worcester
when we were very much on top.
- Bowling just 24 overs against Derby only for the
weather to have the final say again and eventually the
game was called off on the last day without another
ball being bowled.
This proved very frustrating for both the players and
coaches as we feel we could have easily challenged for
the top spot with the possible points acquired from these
games.
Over the course of the season I feel there were 3 games
that typified how well the lads had performed throughout
the season:
Kent/Northants - Friendly at Beckenham CC
This was the first game of the season for us and it was
against a very strong combined team, it would be a good
test for our young side. We won the toss and put Kent/
Northants into bat on a green pitch. Ben Brooks, a talented
young left arm seamer, making his 2nd XI debut recorded
figures of 4 for 44 off 12 to help us bowl them out for 216.
In reply we made 294 with Ateeq Javid, Tom Lewis,
Jonathon Webb and Peter McKay all making significant
contributions to give us a decent lead on a pitch that was
still slightly seaming around. This was when the strength of
Kent and Northants came to the fore with Karl Coetzer 142
and Steven Crook 141 helping them to post a big score of
410-5 leaving us a chase of 332 in 60 odd overs on the final
day, no easy feat.
Ateeq Javid and Andy Umeed both showed their class
by getting us off to an excellent start and by tea they were
both still in bat. By the time Ateeq was eventually dismissed
for 84 we were in a very strong position and this was when
Andy Umeed took over to see us home with an excellent
match winning score of 164 not out.
Lancashire - Championship game at Coventry and North
Warwicks
This game followed a very similar pattern to the one
above with us putting ourselves into a position on the last
day needing to chase a total. Lancashire set us 311 in 75
overs which we felt confident to chase down especially with
what had happened against Kent/Northants.
Will Porterfield 81 and Jonathan Webb (52) had put us in
a solid position but there was still a lot of work that needed
to be done. This was where a young lad, Aaron Thomason
who had scored 145 against Surrey a couple of weeks
earlier played a very mature and powerful innings to get us
within striking distance. Off the last over we needed 16 and
Aaron who was unfortunately run out for 80 on the last ball
going for the second which would have won us the game
had played an exceptional innings to tie the game.
Yorkshire - Championship game away at Harrogate
This also was to prove to be a difficult game, not only did
Yorkshire have one of the best young 2nd XI bowling attacks
that I have seen for a long time but also Glen Maxwell was
also playing for them which would be a good test for our
own young bowlers.
Two young Academy lads George Panayi and Liam
Banks also made their 2nd XI championship debut in this
game, a very good experience for them both.
Having lost the toss Yorkshire decided to bat on a very
green pitch. With the help of Glen Maxwell 77 and JA
Thompson 61 they finished with a first innings score of
230 all out. If we are to be totally honest with ourselves,
we were disappointed that they scored so many on a very
challenging pitch to bat on. It did show us however the skill
an international batter possess and the small margins a
bowler has even on helpful pitches as Maxwell punished us
on numerous occasions.
Our first inning proved to be a very difficult one, with a
very inexperienced side and an excellent bowling attack
which exploited the conditions admirably, we were bowled
out for 85 leaving us with a deficit of 145 just avoiding the
follow on.
This was where our fight back began. With some
excellent bowling led by one of our Academy players
George Panayi who finished with figures of 7-31-3, with
Australian International Glen Maxwell as his first 2nd XI
wicket (one he’ll remember for a long time) and backed
up by the rest of the guys we had them 190-9 dec leaving
us 335 on the final day to win. That excellent bowling spell
Second XI 2015 Season Review by Tony Frost Second XI Coach
