BARBARIANS SEASON REVIEW
By James Wheeler
Our first season of
Barbarians Twenty20 cricket has finished and although the weather did its best
to try and beat us with 10 games being cancelled, I still think we had a very
good first season. Everybody who turned out for the Barbarians tried their best
and jumped head first into what the Barbarians is all about, to play hard on
the field, to make sure everybody got a game and to have a few beers
afterwards. Not even the weather could dampen our spirits and stop that.
With the problems we had
with the kit order, the first few games were played in whites. Arguably our
opening game at Bushey way back in May was probably the closest contest with us
losing by 6 runs with the game going down to the final ball. Steve Kimsey
Senior picked up 3 wickets and Geezer top scored with a brilliant 66.
Our first home game was
against Sky Sports Active and it really was a men v boys contest with us
winning by 58 runs. Highlights from this performance were a 102 run partnership
for the second wicket by Richard Clarke and Satjeet Chana and a worldy of a
catch by Simon Heaney who caught a skier at cover while not looking at the
ball.
The Sky Sports Active
result was the first in a run of four consecutive wins which also saw us beat Northwood Town and West Harrow twice. Our win at Northwood Town was on their artificial pitch due to the poor weather and saw good
performances from Rajan Modha and Simon Heaney on the ball and myself and Ian
Ridley with the bat. The first time we played West Harrow at home was a low scoring affair with Richard
Clarke once again staring with the bat with yet another 50 and Chairman Nitin
Modha picked up 3 wickets for only 2 runs. The return game 5 days later saw us
win once more with Andy Carr once again being the star of the show scoring a
brilliant 85 with shots all around the ground and he really did deserve a ton.
Majid Abassi and Richard Ward starred with the ball and there was also a very
positive debut for young seamer Ravi Vyas.
With the appalling
weather, we played only once in the next month with us losing a game at home to
Northwood Town which seemed impossible to lose. We scored only 125 but we then
reduced our opponents to 39-6 after 6 overs. However credit to Northwood Town as they managed to get a great win with them losing only 1 more
wicket with 6 balls to spare.
We suffered heavy defeats in our final 3 games
of the season and apart from the last match we all did manage to get something
out of the other games. Against West Harrow at
home, Ian Ridley bowled exceptionally well and picked up 3 wickets.
There were three stand out
individuals for the Barbarians this season. Andy Carr and Richard Clarke
starred with the bat and Ian Ridley with the ball. Other individuals put in
some good performances but these three guys were outstanding and I expect all
three to figure highly when the Barbarians Player of the Year is announced at
our awards night.
We weren’t able to do as
much off the field after the games as we would have liked due to the weather
and looking at 2013 we will certainly try and get some more fundraising and fun
off the field next summer.
I would like to finally
thank a couple of guys who have helped make the Barbarians possible this season
and in future years. Firstly I want to thank my vice-captain Ed who was always
helpful on the field and he led the team when I was on my honeymoon. Also our
groundsman Loz for preparing some decent wickets and allowing us to get games
on when possibly it was 50/50. Finally to all the boys for playing, I hope you
enjoyed it and roll on next season.
Wheels
BEST BARBARIANS
PARTNERSHIPS
1st Wicket 59 I.Ridley & J.Wheeler Northwood Town June 13
2nd
Wicket 85 W.Whitson & A.Carr Bushey May
29
3rd
Wicket 61 A.Carr & G.Gandhi West Harrow June 19
4th
Wicket 28 A.Carr & J.Wheeler West Harrow June 19
5th
Wicket 15* C.Hoar & R.Clarke Northwood Town June 13
6th
Wicket 62* R.Clarke & R.Bailey Northwood Town June 28
7th
Wicket 102* S.Chana & R.Clarke Sky Sports Active May 31
8th
Wicket 3* N.Modha & M.Vyas West Harrow June 14
9th
Wicket 3 I.Ridley & R.Vyas West
Harrow June 19
10th
Wicket 7* I. Ridley & B.Pala West Harrow June 19
LEADING RUN SCORERS
Mat Inn N.O. Runs HS 50s Ave
A.Carr 8 7 0 226 85 2 32.29
R.Clarke 7 7 4 205 59* 2 68.33
J.Wheeler 8 8 0 105 36 - 13.13
S.Chana 4 4 1 82 37* - 27.33
I.Ridley 9 6 2 62 43 - 15.50
LEADING WICKET TAKERS
Mat O M R W BB Ave Econ SR
I.Ridley 9 30.1 0 236 12 3-21 19.67 7.82 15.08
S.Kimsey
JR 6 20 0 155 6 2-31 25.83 7.75 20
J.Chavda 4 14 0 144 5 3-24 28.80 10.28 16.80
R.Edmands 5 13 0 96 5 3-21 19.20 7.38 15.60
S.Kimsey
SR 3 10 0 66 5 3-26 13.20 6.60 12
