Fraser Tant's 2010 Season Review and Special Message

The 2010 Harpenden Cavaliers

 

Gentlemen

It's an honour to have the Cavaliers armband for the 2010 season, following in some illustrious footsteps: Foster, Rankin, Lloyd, Handford, Brindley-Boyd-Clark.... a veritable who's who of cricket.

And the armband comes full circle to yours truly in a notable year for the Cavaliers - our first season of league cricket. We'll be competing in the Chess Valley League Division 5, and who knows what the standard will be.If I was a betting man, I'd suggest that it's going to be hard work, but after 10 years of friendlies now's the time to raise our game.

Our season kicks off with a friendly against Harpenden, and let's hope we perform better than the same opening fixture of last year. A shocker: we registered our lowest total since our very first match in 1999, all out for 75, with captain Simon Foster making a commendable 34 and everyone else contributing 2 6s, a 5, 2 4s, a 2 and 4 ducks. However, from one extreme to the other, a host of Cavs records were broken later in the season against Ivanhoe, with Todd Baines and Jonny Gregory putting on 220 for the third wicket, scoring 180 and 120 respectively in a bumper 338 for 6.

We also missed a major milestone - in our last game of the year, Mr James Handford became the second Cav to get 100 caps, and also became the Cavs all-time leading run scorer with 2371 runs. A worthy 2010 vice-captain if ever there was one.

Clearly, one of the most significant factors of last year was our new affiliation with OAs, When we played our first game at Hampstead Heath in 1999, who envisaged having a home pitch and clubhouse quite like Woollams? The man who should get the credit for this is Ellis Thorpe, although Snr should get a nod too for the way that he schmoozed and did all the right things with the OAs hierarchy to make us look credible throughout the season.

I think we'll all agree that "the Goat" did a cracking job with the armband in 2009, getting the balance between giving everyone a decent game and being competitive pretty much spot on. We won 7, lost 8 and drew one, and but for some shocking batting collapses in winnable games against the Players & Jesters and Redbourn, that record would have been 9 and 6.

As ever, the 2009 awards were fiercely contest. The coveted Clubman of the Year Award had a shortlist of:
• Paul Wise for a cracking tour to Torquay
• Simon Foster for his captaincy
• Ellis Thorpe for initiating the OAs relationship
• .. and yours truly for general stuff - a conspiracy so I have to do a mucky.

The winner, deservedly, was Simon Foster. Well done, Snr!

Next, Champagne moment. As ever, there was no shortage of nominations for this, including:
• Jay Wise subbing himself off at Chudleigh and falling asleep on the boundary, and the resulting PWise strop after the same game.
• Ellis refusing to acknowledge that Greggsy triggering him for a duck against Ivanhoe before going on to blast 120 might have been for the greater good
• BCR, Toothy and Lloyd sat supping Old Scrotum on a bench 8 feet behind the slip cordon against Whimple
• LBC's Waugh / Gillespie moment against boxmoor when he flattened the 12 year old. Broke the lads glasses and they still dropped the catch
• Firms resolutely refusing to leave the scorebox at Woolllams despite his new missus giving him the doe eyes
• El, on tour. Enough said
• The WAGs and nippers arriving in the glorious sunshine at Harpenden HC to watch the opening game of the season to find Cavs 40-9
• Barbara's cakes
• Flimmsy wearing one in the face, calling for a lid and doing the same thing the very next ball.
• The normally mild-mannered Rusty losing it when being out stumped at Redbourn, despite being at least a yard out.
• Firms sliding across the changing room floor at whimple after he fell over exiting the shower

and some cricketing ones:
• Todd and Greggsy's twin tons
• Greggsy's 16 ball fifty against St Albans - the dawning of a new Cavs legend
• Bestie's inaugural 50 against Shenley
• FT's completing a rapid 50 with a 6 over long off of the penultimate ball against Goodwill Wanderers
• BCR's Ball of the Century that turned a mile, did the batsman all ends up and clipped the top. "'kin' hell Tweatkin that's the most beautifulest ball I've ever kept to' said Lloyd
• Todd smashing the Cavs individual score

And the winner was... Todd and Greggsy's partnership against Ivanhoe

It's customary before announcing the Player of the Year Award to toast new or imminent arrivals to the Cavs. Well done, LBC, Gaymond, Timmy F and Snr

So, the final award, for Player of the Year. The leading candidate were:
• Todd Baines, 10 games, 377 runs, 3 fifties and one ton, at 42
• Jon Gregory, 10 games, 347 runs, 1 hundred, 3 fifties at 35
• Ben Rankin, 10 games, 14 wickets at 13 and a record 12 dropped catches

It was a close run thing between the Grove Road Two, but on the grounds that he wanders out to the middle in his Titliest cap and opponents always think he'll be rubbish, the winner was Greggsy. Well done mate

So. 2010 fast approaches. Timmy F is organising our tropical tour to the Isle of Wight, Lloyd is organising some new kit, nets kick off in Feb and the Cavs are stepping up a level. Bring it on!

Allez les cavs

FT

 

 

2001 - F Tant EOS Summary

2002 - F Tant EOS Summary

2003 - F Tant EOS Summary

2004 - Jimmy Hat

2005 - G Lloyd + EOS Summary

2006 - F Tant

2007 - Brindo and LBC

2008 - BCR

2009 - Simon Foster