It has been a very competitive season played in a very friendly atmosphere throughout.
Some players who impressed through the season included Kurt Butler for a fast improving and very young Birmingham team. Chetan Davdra and Alan Chamley both put in impressive batting performances throughout for an Eastern Vipers side that at times lacked bowling threat. For Northamptonshire Ian Goodearl put in some fine batting performances, whilst David Gavrilovic with the bat and Nick Killen with the ball both put in much improved seasons, whilst Shah Miah had a fantastic season; batting, bowling and fielding superbly. Northern Galloways made a good return to blind cricket with Gary Oneil and Gary Prescott playing well. Finally for Worcestershire, Sam Murray showed how talented he is and Tom Millson and Richard Claridge also had excellent seasons and all showed the potential they have.
The best thing about this season is that it wasn't spoilt by the political problems off the field.
Finally good luck to the England blind cricket team for the World Cup in Islamabad, Pakistan which takes place in December this year.
1 Northamptonshire VI.Xi.NS
Played 6 Won 6 Drew 0 Lost 0 Bat Pts 29 Bowl Pts 26
Total 145
2 Birmingham SCVI
Played 6 Won 3 Drew 2 Lost 1 bat pts 17 bowl pts 21
Total 99
3 Northern Galloways
Played 6 Won 3 Drew 1 Lost 2 bat Pts 17 bowl pts 16
Total 87
4 Eastern Vipers
Played 6 Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 4 bat pts 14 bowl pts 10
Total 50
5 Worcestershire Royals
Played 6 won 0 drew 0 lost 6 Bat pts 8 Bowl pts 10
Total 28
Worcestershire 137 all out Northern Galloways 141/6
Northern Galloways won by 4 wickets
Worcestershire 77 All Out Birmingham 78/4
Birmingham won by 6 wickets
Birmingham v Eastern Vipers
No Result, Rain
Northern Galloways 102 All Out Birmingham 103/3
Birmingham won by 7 wickets
Worcestershire 82 All Out Northamptonshire 83/2
Northamptonshire won by 8 wickets
Northamptonshire 282/4 declared, Worcestershire 112 All Out
Northamptonshire won by 170 Runs
Eastern Vipers 290/4 declared, Worcestershire 117 All Out
Eastern Vipers won by 173 Runs
Northern Galloways v Worcestershire Royals
Northern won due to cancellation
Northern Galloways v Eastern Vipers
Northern won due to cancellation
Northern Galloways 89/4 v Birmingham
Match Drawn, Rain
Eastern Vipers 220/8 declared, Northamptonshire 221/4
Northamptonshire won by 6 wickets
Northamptonshire 247/9 declared, Birmingham 200 All Out
Northamptonshire won by 47 Runs
Eastern Vipers v Birmingham
Birmingham won due to cancellation
Northamptonshire v Northern Galloways
Northamptonshire won due to cancellation
Eastern Vipers 254/4 declared, Northamptonshire 258/6
Northamptonshire won by 4 wickets
Northamptonshire seal BBS League title
Northamptonshire VI.XI.NS have claimed the BBS National Cricet League title for the first time after winning all of their league games in the 2006 season. Northants finished 46 points ahead of Birmingham in the league mainly due to a 47 run win away in
Birmingham.
The leagues top performers were:
Top b1 batsman:David Gavrilovic (Northamptonshire)
Top b1 bowler: Adrian Snellgrove (Birmingham)
Top Partially sighted batsman:Chetan Davdra (Eastern Vipers)
Top partially sighted bowler: Shah Miah (Northamptonshire)
Mainstream cricket can be breathtaking, heart stopping viewing and so too is blind cricket; once again a superb example of this was the 2006 Primary Club BBS Knockout Cup Final. David Gavrilovic reports on this terrific match … with last year’s finalists meeting doing battle, would Metro slay the Dragons again or did the mighty Dragons fly this year?
By David Gavrilovic
The 2006 British Blind Sport Primary Club National Knockout Cup Final saw a repeat of the previous year’ final between Metro and South Wales Dragons.
The final was once again hosted by the MCC at Lords Cricket Ground and the weather helped out on the day as despite rain all morning the only interruption it caused was to start the match 7 minutes late.
Metro's captain Dave Townley called the toss correctly and decided to put the Dragons in to bat. The innings started fantastically for Metro as opening bowler Heindrich Swanepoel bowled Dave Wood for 0 with the fourth ball of the game. The second wicket swiftly followed with Rory Field dismissing Andy Law for 2. Toby Warren and Howard Greenhill looked to rebuild the innings and managed to get the score heading in the right direction with some clever singles and powerful hits to the boundary. Both men though fell in close succession with Warren out for 20 and Greenhill for 19. This left the Dragons in a precarious position at 67 for 4. Then, Dragons inspirational captain Damion Corrigan took over and with the help of Keryn Seal went about speeding up the scoring rate and amassing a big total. Eventually their partnership was ended when Rob Kershaw dismissed Seal for 18 after a fantastic partnership of 80 which brought the score to 147 for 5 when Seal was out.
Corrigan followed soon after caught by Matt Dean on the boundary off the bowling of Amit Amin for a thrilling 63. The rest of the Dragons batsmen contributed small scores and they were bowled out with a ball left of their 30 overs for 180.
Rob Kershaw with 2 for 14 had Metro's best bowling figures and Rory Field, Heindrich Swanepoel and Amit Amin also got 2 wickets each.
When Metro's innings got under way Dragons momentum continued and they had Metro in early trouble when Rory Field was removed for 2 by that man again, Corrigan. After a brilliant opening spell from Corrigan and Howard Greenhill Metro were way behind
the run rate at 13 for 1 after 6 overs. Adam Benjamin and Dave Townley started to increase the scoring before both were out within a run of each other. Andy Law removed Adam Benjamin for 11 and Dave Townley was caught by Law off the bowling of Will
Norman for 8.
The Metro fans had been quiet up til then but Matt Dean and Bryn Reynolds started scoring freely and suddenly everyone began to believe there was a game on again. Dean was well caught from the bowling of Chris Dade for 10 but with some help from Dragons extras the Metro scoring continued as Reynolds was joined by Amit Amin.
Metro were never really up with the scoring rate but with wickets in hand most people still thought they could do it at 99 for 4 with some big hitters still to come. Amin was dismissed in bizarre circumstances when he was out for 2; he had hit his own wicket but nobody realised he was actually out for a while! The batsman completed two runs and everyone was awaiting the next ball when Amin started walking off - but nobody knew why! Umpire Pete Sugg had to go across to the scorers and commentators to explain what had happened. This left Metro 99 for 5 with Rob Kershaw joining Bryn Reynolds in the middle. However in the next over the game effectively ended! In two minutes of madness Rob Kershaw and Heindrich Swanepoel were both run out in successive balls to leave Metro 102 for 7 and needing a miracle.
Reynolds continued to bat steadily and was joined by Hassan Khan. Reynolds marathon innings was finally ended by Andy Law for 20 and when Damion Corrigan picked up his
second wicket to remove Khan for 4, Metro were down to their last pair. The game ended in fitting circumstances as Hasmukh Metta was caught by Law and Bowled by Corrigan to bring the game to a close giving Dragons a well deserved 54 run win from a fantastic match.
Corrigan was named ‘Partially Sighted Man of the Match’ as he added bowling figures of 3 for 16 to his earlier 63 runs when batting and Andy Law was ‘Totally Blind Man of the Match’ for his 2 for 28 when bowling and 2 catches.
All in all it was an amazing day for all involved and grateful thanks must go to the MCC for hosting the game and especially to the Primary Club for their fantastic support of this competition over the years and it was great to have the medals and trophy presented by
Robert Flemming the Chairman of the Primary Club.
Thursday April 27th 2006
By Andrew Dalby-Welsh, Development officer LCCA, Opportunity thru cricket
Once again The Kersey Cup was held at the MCC Indoor School, Lords Cricket Ground. We must say a big thank you to the MCC who provide this facility free of charge for the competition.
Seven teams entered The Kersey Cup this year and they were: George Abbott, Woking High, Linden Lodge, Oxted Mainstream, LCCA Lions, the Hampshire Hawks and the Sussex Sharks.
The London Lions, Woking High and the Hampshire Hawks made up Group A with the other four teams making up Group B. Each team played two games with the two group toppers going head to head in the final.
The curtain raising game saw Oxted Mainstream beat Linden Lodge with some great fielding and some sharp run outs giving them the runs advantage they needed to secure there first win. Group B started with the Hampshire Hawks taking on Woking High. The players from Woking High showed their experience of playing together for a number of years to beat the young Hampshire Hawks side. Big hitting David Allen made a real difference in this fixture hitting the back wall for six on more than one occasion.
The next fixture in this group gave the Hawks no rest bite they came up against the London Lions. The Lions players all who attend mainstream school have formed a real bond and have been tipped to win The Kersey Cup in the next two years. Some fast bowling from Joel Robinson and big hitting from Lions captain Mark Bond saw the Lions notch up their first victory. The Hawks are soon to benefit from a summer of coaching and look like they will be a real threat in years to come. The deciding game in this group was between the Lions and Woking. It was a real tense encounter with some frantic running at the death ensuring Woking High would go in to the 2006 Kersey Cup final. Only five runs separated the two teams at the end of the match.
The next game in Group A saw current holders the Sussex Sharks take on George Abbott. Sharks with their new skipper Joe Harrison notched up their first victory of the day. George Abbott performed excellently and showed that with further practice they could be a real contender in 2007.
Linden Lodge then took on George Abbott registering their first victory of the tournament. The group decider then took place between the Sharks and Oxted Mainstream. Oxted put the Sharks under pressure but the Sharks experience showed through and they notched up their second victory on the way to their fourth final in four years.
The Final:
The Sharks won the toss and put Woking in to bat. Nerves were definitely in evidence with Woking handing the Sharks a couple of run outs through some unlikely quick singles. However, Woking batted very well and included two B1s in their line up. It looked like they had posted a potentially match winning score of 67.
The Sharks response was strong, Joe Harrison in his last Kersey Cup used his experience to bat and support the younger and more inexperienced members of his team. The Sharks showed the benefits of regular practice by cleverly hitting the ball in to gaps and not taking any risks in their running. It was a tight game but Woking needed to take a wicket from their last over to gain victory but the Sharks managed to keep them out for an eight run victory.
Once again the tournament was a great success. The Sharks won for a fourth year running and are still yet to lose a game in The Kersey Cup. However, it was clear to see that many of the other teams are bridging the gap. 2007 should be a keenly fought tournament. The Sharks will lose experienced captain Harrison and could this lead to a new name appearing on the Kersey Cup!
Many thanks must go to Reg Horn, Manager of the MCC Indoor School, Alan Whetherly, the schools and parents who brought their children all of whom made the day such an enjoyable one to organise.
Here’s a quick catch up on the BBS cricketing roll of honours. With the Cup Final and Division 1 originating in 1996, Division 2 in 2001 and the Juniors beginning in 2003.
Cup Finals
Division One
Division Two
Kersey Cup for Juniors
