Page last updated on Wednesday 11th March 2012

Club Reports 2011

Chairman's Report - Simon Weston

The season seems so long ago now that when I sat down to prepare these remarks and to look back over the past season, I began by considering what general impressions the season had left upon me and what emotions it had evoked.

I can honestly say that my over-riding impression was that it was a season of some intense highs and some significant lows; pleasure, pride and a sense of progress and achievement on the one hand, but also sadness, frustration and bitter disappointment on the other.

Notable amongst the things that made me proud was the way the club hosted the County game between Shropshire and Herefordshire in June. In my opinion it is hard to find fault with any aspect of the way this was managed. We laid on an excellent wicket and the ground looked a picture (thank you to the groundstaff, particularly Ray Evans and John Bache), refreshments and teas did credit to the high expectations of the Shropshire Cricket Board (thank you to Wendy, the ladies committee and Heather for hosting senior officials), and the usual army of sunburnt helpers attended to move the sightscreens and help around the club (thanks also to them).

The club achieved many good things on the field last season, both at senior and junior level. The continued excellence of the junior section, both in the fantastic achievements of the junior age group teams and the many representatives we sent forward as district and county representatives was reflective of the excellent coaching structure at the club and the growing number of good young players and coaches here. My thanks go to all of the coaches and the age group team managers for their commitment and energy through the season and to Jon Martin for his continued contribution as head of the Junior section.

Coaching on Friday nights was another huge success. We entertained over 100 children most Friday evenings, and the bar takings testified that parents and families enjoyed the club's facilities as well. The administration of this event is no small matter and my thanks go to all those involved, particularly Ian Roe, Steve Caine, Wendy, Heather and all the coaches. The club also provided the lion's share of the coaching on the ECB funded "Chance to Shine" coaching programme in local schools. Organised for the district by Ian Roe, our lead coach was Rob Hughes and his efforts not only increased the profile of the club but also raised a considerable sum of money for the club.

I know that Alex intends to cover the performance of the senior sides in some detail, but I hope he will indulge me if I summarise briefly my take on what went on.

We are one of a declining number of clubs in Shropshire still playing Sunday cricket, and raising teams can sometimes be a challenge. Nonetheless, both Sunday teams performed creditably under young captains, mixing a blend of youth and experience and playing hard but with a clear sense of fun. Both teams finished towards the top of their leagues, but neither had the strength in depth or intensity to win their respective competitions. The Sunday seconds often fielded over half a team of U13s and there were some notable performances from our young cricketers including a maiden 50 in senior cricket from U12 George Hargrave on his debut in senior cricket for the club.

On Saturdays, the 3rds did the club proud by earning promotion from the fifth division of the Shropshire League. Throughout the season Pete Oliver was challenged by the large number of quality players he had to choose from, but he produced an excellent team with spirit and a keen desire to win. There were many notable performances, especially from some of the junior players who were playing their maiden season in Saturday senior cricket. Well done to the 3rd team!

The second team also did brilliantly well to be one of the dominant forces in the First Division for 2nd XIs in the Birmingham League and thereby promotion to the Premier Division. Congratulations to Rob Hughes and all those who played in the second team. They too developed a formidable team spirit, a belief in themselves and a strong will to win.

If the above provided pleasure and pride, then the 1st XI's performances defied my understanding.

Although it was a young side, it contained seven senior minor counties players and an array of outstanding junior players and was placed 4th in the league at the halfway point of the season. Unfortunately it slumped and despite working itself into positions from which it could have won sufficient points to remain out of the danger zone, it failed and was relegated from the Second Division of the Birmingham & District Premier League.

In my opinion the primary reason for this catastrophe (and make no mistake this is a catastrophe for the club) was a lack of on-field leadership. A number of the senior players failed to step up, to take responsibility, to grind out results and to support the younger players around them. Too often county heroes failed to perform for the club and for me this is simply unacceptable.

There was also a failure to recognise that teams that train together stick together. I do not believe that it benefitted the first team that they did not gather together to train at least once a week. Simply, the standard of play required in the Birmingham League is too high for "one day a week cricketers" and I think when the chips were down this showed. Could any member of the first team, with hand on heart, say that every week they were outplayed by better teams? I don't think so, but in application, intensity and heart we were outplayed.

Next season the club will be challenged. A mass exodus of those responsible for this season's first team farrago will have knock on effects through the club, affecting not just the first team's attempts to remain in the Birmingham League, but also the second and third teams as they seek to establish themselves in higher, more competitive leagues. Unless the club is very careful it will be playing in the Shropshire League.

The administration of the club remains in a parlous state. Without the active involvement of its members on the committee no club can survive and I would remind all members that when you pay your subscription you are not buying anything but the right to be a member of the club. The club owes you nothing. It is down to you to help make it work. I would therefore make a plea to players to get involved in the running of this club and don't expect others to make it happen for you. If you don't this great club may not be here for you in the future.

So this season was an emotional rollercoaster providing immense pleasure and pride from the many fantastic achievements of the club, but deep disappointment at the sheer lack of intensity and on occasion, lack of pride that led to our loss of our status in the Second Division of the Birmingham League.

I would like to thank a number of people for their work through the season. The ground is a continued source of pride and it remains one of the best in Shropshire. Thanks go to Tom Weaver, Ray Evans, Len Burton and John Bache for their work on it. Teas continue to rank highly across the county and thanks must go to Sophie and Paul Thompson and Wendy Pottinger for her work with the third team. This year's annual dinner was a notable success and a sell out and I would like to thank Maureen Mumford for her effort in this regard. The Pub Knockout was well run by Matt Martin with help from others, and despite competing attractions around the town still attracted a high level of competition and raised a considerable sum for the club. And finally I would like to thank the members of the committee for their help and support over the past year.

As you know, I am standing down as Club Chairman now. Simply, my business and personal commitments do not allow me to give the time of the energy that the club deserves and I think it is right that someone else who can devote more focus takes on this role. I would like to wish my successor and the club the best of luck for the future.

Secretary's Report - Alex Thomas

We arrived at the start of the season with a young, ambitious squad, many of whom have shown promise for a number of years. It seemed that 2011 could well be the time for that promise to come to fruition.


With the 1st XI finishing with a solid mid-table slot in Division Two last season, an extra year of maturity for a side mixing an experienced core of high-quality players, with a number of up-and-coming youngsters keen to prove their skills at 1st team level, the signs looked good for a strong 2011. The season started well, with all three pre-season games resulting in good victories. The first half of the league season continued in a similar mould with a number of strong performances putting Bridgnorth in the top four at the halfway stage.

However, the second half of the season was to provide a dramatic turn-around of events. Poor team performances and a lack of luck combined cruelly as a slump in form resulted in the side falling into the second relegation spot at the worst possible time, and a return to Division Three.

The batting was a story of two uneven halves. Club Player of the Year Jono Whitney once again had a strong season, winning the batting averages by scoring 755 runs at 37, with eight half centuries. Able support was provided by Ryan Lockley, who faced by far the highest number of balls in the team to score 624 solid runs at the top of the order, and was rewarded by being named the U21 Player of the Year. Opening partner Dave Exall also batted well to be the third player in the team to pass 500 League runs, including a commanding century at Harborne, the sole triple-figure score in the team all season.

The rest of the batting was a different story, though. A telling stat was that the remaining 13 players who represented the 1st team during the season scored an aggregate of 50 runs less than the aforementioned three batsmen, Gareth Mumford and Jack Edwards being the most successful among them. Eight different players scoring fifties showed that runs could be made by the middle and lower order, but they weren't often enough, with a lack of application often being shown.

The bowling during the season was tidy, without being excessively threatening. Jono and Sam Whitney took 36 and 35 wickets respectively, Tom Weaver 27 and captain Mark MacPherson-Lees 25, but no-one averaged less than 20 runs per dismissal. The opposition were bowled out just 5 times all season, with Bridgnorth dismissed 11 times.

Once again, it is important for this team to bounce back strongly next season. A number of players have shown on occasion that they can perform at this level, but it is time for this to be turned into consistency and more determination shown when things aren't going our way.

On a more positive note, the team did finish with some silverware, claiming overall honours in the Salop Caravans T20 Competition, beating local rivals Shifnal and Whitchurch to claim the title.


As a contrast, the 2nd team enjoyed an excellent season in Reserve Division One, finishing in second spot to secure promotion to the Reserve Premier League on the final weekend. Losing just 1 game out of 21 showed immense strength throughout the season, everyone contributing good performances.

The batting was once again led by three men. Nick Gray and Andy Carson both had excellent seasons to finish with over 600 runs apiece, and both scored maiden Birmingham League tons, Carson's second century at Wombourne being one of the highlights of the season. They were both usurped, however, by Glenn Edwards, who overcame a mid-season knee injury to win a close race for the batting averages, scoring consistently to finish with 450 runs at 45.

The middle order also contributed runs during the season at various times. Captain Rob Hughes scored his first Birmingham League hundred, and finished with over 300 runs, whilst Greg Lewis, Matt Martin, Alex Whitby and Conor Goodwin-Tindall all came to the party when required. Runs were scored throughout the line-up, and rarely were the team short of a strong or winning total.

The bowling was once again led from the front by the vastly experienced duo of Andy Leather and Steve Caine, taking 86 wickets between them. Leather claimed the final honours this year, topping the averages for both the team and the league with 46 dismissals costing less than 15 apiece. Liam Brown, Nick Gray, Ed Lewis and Tom Baugh provided worthy back-up, with Brown having an excellent second half, taking 17 of his 20 wickets in the final seven games.

Next year will present a new, much stiffer challenge. A combination of a higher standard combined with a potential change of personnel will certainly provide a tougher season. However, this will give players an excellent chance to test themselves at a sterner level, and provide new challenges for all members of the squad.


The second success story of the year came from the 3rd team. A young but talented core of players have been improving year-on-year, but this promise came to fruition this season. Sixteen victories out of 21 games played propelled the team to a strong second place finish in the league, securing promotion to Shropshire League Division Four with a game remaining.

Throughout the campaign, the team relied on a game-plan of restricting the opposition with the ball, before knocking off the total with the bat, a strategy that worked on 12 occasions. It is worth noting that all season, only twice did the opposition score more than 200, on both occasions the result still being a victory for the Chelmarsh-based side.

The thirds entered the season with their strongest looking squad of players for a number of seasons, containing a solid home-grown core along with a few new arrivals.

With the ball, seamers Alex Thomas, Ben Leather and Rob Jones kept things tight early on, whilst also taking important early wickets, regular openers Thomas and Leather taking 36 and 22 wickets respectively. They were backed up by spinning newcomers Harry Martin and Jake Harvey. Martin bowled tidily throughout the season to take 22 useful wickets, but Harvey took on all opponents by storm to finish with 42 wickets in 12 games at less than 10 runs apiece, taking 5 wickets or more on five occasions.

The ability of this bowling attack took a bit of pressure off the batsmen, but they were still required to chase a winning total, a task they took on as a unit with aplomb. On the 12 occasions the side won batting second, only once were more than four wickets lost.

Runs aplenty came from a consistent top order of Ollie Gill, Harry Martin and Andy Mooney, all of which scored well over 400 runs during the season, with Gill passing the 500 mark in the final game. Mooney scored the sole century of the campaign, but fifties were scored by no less than ten different players during the season, showing an enviable strength in depth. Ian Gough, Cam Wallis and Elliot Pottinger were the other main run-getters, with Gough averaging almost 60 in the matches he played.

This combination of tight, penetrative bowling and solid, dependable batting, proved too much for most opposition. But for an abandoned game early in the season, the 3rds could well have won the league by a good margin. As it was they settled for an admirable second place and promotion, along with the second highest number of wins and the best wins-per-games-played percentage in the Shropshire League.


Sunday cricket was once again used to provide extra opportunities for senior players to practice their skills on the field, and also to bring through the next generation of cricketers at Bridgnorth. Both sides once again achieved success, with a number of excellent performances during the year. It was very encouraging to see the numbers of youngsters performing well when given a chance to play adult cricket, testament to the quality of coaching we have here at Bridgnorth.

Bridgnorth Cricket Club can look back on the 2011 season as a successful campaign, not just on a senior but also a junior level, with the many youth teams also having strong seasons. But for reasons mentioned earlier, we must continue to improve. The squad as a whole is very young, and with each year we are growing with skill and experience. Next year will now be very important at all levels on the field of play. The 1st XI will need to bounce back strongly, and show they have the desire and fight to recover from a disappointing 2011. After a successful campaign, the 2nd XI will have a tough season in a strong league, but a great opportunity for players to demontrate their skills at a higher level. The 3rd XI will hope to kick-on from an excellent season, and continue to develop a youthful but maturing squad.

2012 will undoubtedly be a challenge for everyone at Bridgnorth, but with hard work and dedication, success is definitely within our grasp.