2007 Season Report
2007 was an eventful season at Benfleet. This year’s ‘outside project’ was a fenced storage area for the sightscreens and other ground equipment - further improving the cricketing infrastructure up at Woodside Park. Particular thanks should go Stuart Scott and Jon Wright for everything they did in pulling this together. Inside the clubhouse another ‘make-over’ day in March freshened up the downstairs bar and kitchen area. Although this was a club effort, special thanks should go to Pat Tremain for co-ordinating the work yet again and Lee Parmenter for the time he spent refitting the kitchen. On the pitch the senior sides had enjoyable seasons. The four side Saturday sides, despite playing in competitive leagues, finished 3rd, 8th, 6th and 6th respectively.
The first team frustratingly finished one place short of promotion racking up 247 points and 11 wins. Promisingly the side won 7 of their last 9 games beating the champions, the runners up and the fourth placed side. Younger players like Sean Pritchard, Andy Jenkins, Phil and Dave Wright and Gareth Steed are the reason why the team will be even stronger next year and perhaps start the 2008 season as one of the favourites to go up. There were many highlights during the year including; bowling Epping out for 24; a hat-trick for Dave Miles; beating Old Southendians by 3 runs in the last over of a tight game and winning against Harold Wood, the deserved 2007 champions, on the last day of the season. Most of the batsman faired well with Paul Tremain, Dave Wright, Phil Wright and Jes Hancock all scoring over 250 league runs. Mike Tremain and Andy Jenkins also chipped in with some valuable knocks through the year. Phil put together the two highest scores of the year with a 96 against Old Southendians and 91 not out against Epping finishing with 400 runs league runs. Jes also topped 400 runs at an average of over 35 including three scores over 50. In the bowling department Jes, Dave Miles, Gareth Steed and Sean Pritchard were all fantastic – Jes, Dave and Gareth finished with over 30 wickets and Sean a very respectable 21. Between them they took 5 wickets in an innings on 7 occasions, bowled sides out for less than a 100 three times and less than 150 on 6 further occasions.
The second team’s season came to an exciting climax with the side leaving it to last game before securing their place in the league for the second year in succession. The year had started well and after 5 games the side had won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1. The return of Andy Jenkins to the club was a huge bonus and in the first 3 games he had averaged over 60 with the bat and proved he was still a quality keeper. Tom Hanson had also started the season well and in the first 4 innings was averaging over 100! Unfortunately there were no more wins for the next 8 games - with 2 abandoned, 3 draws and 3 losses. This mid season dip in fortunes meant the team went into the final game against Harold Wood still needing 6 points to be safe. As ever it was hard work and having been 80 for 6, there was a huge sigh of relief when the 175 came up. In terms of the batting 2 players did particularly well scoring more than 400 league runs; John Park and ‘Skippy’ Burns. The wickets were shared around with all the bowlers doing their bit. The star of the season with the ball though was Alj Pritchard taking 20 wickets at an average of 25.
This third team season contained the usual highs and lows and without anyone finding any real form the team finished in mid table, in no danger of relegation, but without really troubling the top teams either. With the bat there were notable performances from Benny Ware with 293 runs at an average of 24, Martin Jackson with over 200 runs and Dave Nash with 129 runs in just five of his ‘last game(s) for Benfleet’. In terms of the bowling, there were useful contributions from a number of the younger players including Jamie Hodgson and Chris Coldicott. Pete Hitchcock had another productive season with the ball taking 15 wickets but Amrish Joshi led the way with 29 wickets at an average of just 13.
The fourth eleven had solid year finishing 6th combining seasoned campaigners like John Hearn, Pete Reeve, Ron Steed and Deryck Povey with younger talents like Rob Parmenter, Dan Brady and Mark Acraman. Highlights included Pete Reeve’s 99 not out against Billericay – blatant jug avoidance as he managed to spend the entire final over at the non-strikers end! John Hearn scooped the player of the year award finishing second in the batting averages and top of the bowling averages.
It is fair to say that the nucleus of the Sunday first team enjoyed the social aspects of Saturday night / Sunday morning. Therefore managing to field a first team Sunday side at all last year was something of an achievement and the fact the team did so respectably in the league is nothing short of miraculous! With the bat Jess Hancock again starred racking up 321 runs at an average in excess of 100. Phil and Dave Wright and Sean Pritchard also chipped in with valuable contributions throughout the season. Wickets were shared between the bowlers with Jes, Sean, and Gareth Steed doing most of the damage.
The club enjoyed another successful year across the youth teams with continued participation in the ‘Chance to Shine’ scheme meaning we were able to field two sides at under 11s, under 13s and under 15s. Benfleet has a proud tradition of developing players through the youth set up and, as the lads have shown this year, this is set to continue. Thanks should go to Jon Wright who has again driven youth cricket development within the club. Thanks also to all the parents, coaches and team managers who were an invaluable support in running the various training sessions and games.
It’s been another enjoyable year with the clubhouse an enjoyable, vibrant place to be on a Saturday night. Finally a special note of thanks should go to our President, Graham Wilsmer, for everything he does to keep the club in working order.