Winter nets were held again at St Benedicts but attendance was patchy. Some of the ladies joined the mens nets at Brentside, held weekly from January to March, and these were very good.
Player availablility looked promising. Lisa Batty, who had played for Guernsey, attended some pre season nets and looked good, but then was not heard of again. Early season our team was boosted by ex Pakistan internationals Kiran Baluch and Shaiza Khan. Kiran still holds the record for the highest score in a women's international test match, scoring 242 against West Indies in 2003/4, and Shaiza was a wicked spin bowler around the same time. Shame they didn’t stay around for longer to pass on their experience. We had 6 players play in 10 or more matches – Cath, Maz, Debbie, Reshma, Katie and Lucy. Sarah, Viola and Salma all chipped in with 8, and Lauren and Asma played 7. But even so, we used 32 different players to put out teams in 13 matches. Next year, we need to get more people available for 10 or more fixtures to have a core for each match.
We sadly lost Reshma to her world travels at the end of July, and Edna and Oclevia to injury, after making promising starts to the season. Hopefully new players Maia, Antonia, Preeti, Nancy, Caroline and Amy will join the club and play more fixtures next year, and Hannah will be able to play more ladies games. And there are more U13’s waiting in the wings for their opportunity, like Samiha and Gemma.
This season we were in Division One of the North London league, playing Hampstead, Wanstead, Harrow, Ickenham and Chesham. We won 6 out of the 10 league matches we played, and came 3rd in the league. We entered the cup again. We defaulted our match against Hampstead as we couldnt get a team out (same day as Brentford playing at Wembley). We then played Wanstead and the game was tied! Wanstead won as they lost one less wicket. Yet another tight match. Hampstead won our cup group and progressed to the final.
We played an evening friendly against ECB Southern league Championship side Twickenham, but they put out a development side and we won easily. Great performances from new players Salma Virk and Edna Moses. We had another evening game against Richmond, but this again was one sided and a comprehensive victory. We will try and put on more evening fixtures next year, and discuss standards with the opposition to make sure we are more evenly matched.
Jennifer was great, scoring almost every game, and Aaron, Patrick and Kevin umpired. Thanks to all the parents, partners and offspring for their help this year.
Socially, we didn’t do so well. Our cake sale in July was a bit last minute and not advertised, so we didn’t raise too much for club funds. We need to be more successful next year – all ideas welcome. We mixed more with the mens sections this year, with Maz and Debbie playing for the men's 4th’s, and Lucy and Viola being selected to play one week but the game was called off. We were represented at the Grumpy Old Men's end of season barbecue and had two tables at the end of season dinner.
Performance wise, it was a great year. We came third in the league, and missed 2nd by 3 points. Next year, we can do better. We can challenge for the league title, and do better in the cup (as long as we don’t draw Hampstead for the 3rd year). We are working towards developing the club to have 2 ladies teams. Radlett (newly promoted to Division One) have 2 ladies teams – one in the North London league and one in the ECB Southern League. We can aspire to do this too, so that everyone can get as many games as they want to play, at the standard they want to play
Enjoy the indoor cricket that Carlene is organising over the winter, and hope to see you all refreshed and raring to go next season
Well done everyone
Maz Smith