Eastcote Cricket Club Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Dear Member, Please find attached the Annual Report for the club year 2011/12. The Annual General Meeting is to be held on Thursday 13th December 2012 at 7.30 pm at the clubhouse. The meeting is for all members – both playing and social and we hope to see as many members attend as possible.

Agenda 1. Apologies for Absence 2. Minutes of AGM 2010/11 3. Chairman’s Opening Remarks 4. Accounts 2011/12 5. To approve and adopt the Annual report 2011/12 6. To approve a new Life Member 7. Election of Officers for 2012/13 8. Appointment of Accountant to Approve the Accounts 9. Any Other Business Vicky Stevens Honorary Secretary

Chairman’s Report I am proud to start this report by saying that the 2012 cricket season was without doubt one of the best in Eastcote’s long history. This description should not be clouded by the events of the week-end of 8th September, a subject I will come back to later. At all levels there were great performances to remember and treasure. I am sure you will enjoy reading about many of them in the various team reports that follow this overview. I hope you will all join me in taking enormous pride in knowing that the club is now firmly established at the top level of club cricket in Middlesex. There is now a real challenge for Eastcote to maintain this level of success as we approach our 150th year. Once again the excellent standards, achieved by all three of our Middlesex County League (MCCL) sides, are the main, but not the only measure of our current status. The first XI, led by Simon Butler for the 2nd season, confirmed their position as one of the top four clubs in the county. It shows how far that we have come to say that 4th was actually a little disappointing. Ealing, champions for the previous seven seasons were not the force of old, and the top spot was up for grabs by their main rivals – Winchmore Hill, Teddington and of course ourselves. Sport is always at its best when there is a narrow margin between winning and losing and unfortunately not taking advantage of strong positions against both these sides eventually proved critical in our title challenge. Another factor was selection, which was often a stressful mid-week dilemma with regular uncertainties about availability, particularly of our four Middlesex representative players. One of the main objectives was for the 2nd XI, promoted back up to their top division in 2011, to consolidate by staying there. This was comfortably achieved under the determined leadership of Phil Costard. Indeed but for the close defeat on the controversial last week-end of the campaign, a remarkable 2nd position could have been reached. It was a sign of the character in the team that, despite a first half of the season that produced too few points, often not helped by the weather, the team rallied dramatically in the second half of the campaign with many fine results. Many players put in excellent performances, notably Jawwad with two fine centuries, and they all will hopefully become serious 1st XI contenders in 2013. Well done to all. The 3rd XI had an outstanding season. The captaincy of a strong and balanced side at this level passed, from Ben Frais, who had done a tremendous job in 2010 and 2011, to the charismatic Will Dunn. Though inexperienced in his new role, Will showed passionate commitment to the cause of finally getting this XI to win their championship after going very close in recent seasons. I say this despite the fact that he took the romantic option as the finishing line approached by travelling to join his girlfriend for an important celebration in Australia, The hard work had been done with a six point lead going into the last match v Harrow. Ben Frais picked up the reins again for a match that still had to be won and in a tense and exciting finale the victory was ours. The success proved how strong Eastcote has become with youth and experience combining effectively. A special mention was earned by Neil Stevens. Stan collected a massive haul of 50 vital MCCL wickets, a contribution that was appreciated by both Will and regular umpiring recruit Andy Thom.

Before moving away from the MCCL it would be amiss of me not to acknowledge the disappointing breakdown in communication that led to the 1st XI only fielding nine players in the final Premier League fixture away to Winchmore Hill. This unacceptable failure, albeit in difficult circumstances, has led to the club subsequently being penalised vital points in the 2013 season. This stain on the ECC reputation must never happen again. As I write steps are being taken to address the processes that broke down. Moving on, it was pleasing to see further success in the second season of the 4th XI in the Thames Valley League. Promotion was achieved after many convincing winning results and a growing appreciation of the more intricate points system. The team was led from the front by skipper James Mans. James marshalled his troops well and gained the respect of the players not only with his captaincy but also with the bat by amassing an impressive pile of runs in a number of fine innings. I am sure everyone looks forward to the challenge of playing at a higher level next season. The Chess Valley League provides enjoyable and competitive cricket for two Sunday teams against different opposition and at some pleasant venues. For those reasons we have continued to decline the renewed approach from Middlesex to join their recently formed Development league in 2013. Performances of both teams were good, with the 2nd XI winning their division and the 1st XI gaining a creditable 4th place in the 2nd Division. These matches also provide a vital stepping stone for our younger players and others on the fringes of the MCCL sides to get some useful time in the middle and develop their skills. After a few seasons of gentle practice, the Ladies XI took the plunge and joined the North London Ladies Cricket league. They have been led with enthusiasm by Vicky Stevens who has had a busy year having also become ECC Secretary and helping out behind the bar too, a great effort. Further team development was achieved by participating in an early season tournament hosted by Hampstead. Many of the team also joined in the fun at a new annual event, the President’s 6-a-side tournament. This certainly made the rest of the club more aware of the ladies! Results in the league were predictable for a newly formed and inexperienced squad. However improvement was visible over the summer and this is encouraging for 2013. The Clubmark group is trying to support the recruitment and development of the team. Campaigns are in progress with local schools to encourage more girls to join the Eastcote ladies and the colts. As with the boys, Colts evenings going forward should provide a beneficial conveyor belt of players for the senior team in the future but in the meantime we need more female players to join what will definitely need to be a larger squad next season to ensure a side can be fielded throughout the summer. My umpiring duties have enabled me to watch and meet many of the England Women’s XI. They are top quality and inspirational. We have a long way to go but it will be fun. I urge the club at large to help the ladies.

The Eastcote Colts section continues to thrive and give everyone involved massive pleasure. Achievements by our age group teams and individuals can be researched by reading many of the informative reports that follow. Once again the overall level of performance was supported by strong organisation, enthusiasm, as well as excellent commitment and behaviour shown by all concerned. This is something that the whole club is rightly very proud of. However, we cannot afford to be complacent and it has to be said that our resources are stretched at the moment and more volunteers are vitally needed if success is to continue. The efforts of the many coaches and helpers are much appreciated by the committee, the boys and the parents. Also I would like to thank Neil Stevens, Steve Driscoll, Denise Broom, Zara Hastings and June Roan for their organisational and child welfare skills. The recent presentation night certainly served to emphatically illustrate the wealth of talent that is now progressing to our senior sides with skill and confidence. Moving on to the social activities at the club, there have been a number of memorable functions and entertaining occasions over the last 12 months. The 2011 Dinner Dance was a great night back at our often previously used venue at Metropolitan Police in Bushey. As I write, we hope that the 2012 event will gain good support from all sections of the membership, especially the younger end. As can be seen from my comments above, there is a lot of success to celebrate and we all enjoy a good party! We also enjoy a number of seasonal events around Halloween, Guy Fawkes, Christmas and New Year and these are in the diary again as we go into the winter period. Also an entertaining Magic Night from Jawwad provided some sophisticated entertainment recently and we host another performance by Will Dunn’s band Coley in December too. We also hope to host more quizzes following on from the previously successful ones brilliantly presented by Dave Bowers and “Stanley”. Occasionally we also send keen quizzers to functions at Ickenham and Harrow Borough. The ECC Darts team have matches that always add fun to those wet and windy winter Tuesday evenings. We will also perhaps renew efforts to see what support we may have for regular table tennis evenings. The ever popular indoor bowls tournament returned in the first quarter of this year and was once again a great success with higher standards of play, fantastic match reports from the organiser Path Rasan and enthusiastic players and supporters enjoying a few beers in friendly surroundings. This environment inspired Geoff Roan and his team to a memorable success, It was apparent that he and June had been practising hard on the carpet at home! The club took part for the third time in the local British Legion Remembrance Day service on November 11th this year. All members are invited and encouraged to attend this very special annual event to pay tribute to very courageous people from both the recent and distant past. We must also remember friends of the club who have passed away over the last 12 month. Apologies for any unintentional oversights but Gerry Sly, Pat Wheeler & Brian McCrohan will all be sadly missed by many.

Cricket Force day in April, and Fun Day in August, continue to be enjoyable occasions that also bring out the cooperative best in the membership. As well as enabling some very welcome spring cleaning work and, in the latter, generating useful funds these events generate a welcome team spirit. Special thanks are due to Max and Billy for their organisation in April and to Sara for once again demonstrating her enthusiasm and skills to make Fun Day very special. Throughout 2012 the club has continued to utilise a small team to support the main committee by looking increasingly at strategy and planning rather than day to day issues. This group has contributed to the Clubmark administration and has enjoyed the leadership, dedication and administrative skills of Peter Tilsed. Gareth James, our President, has joined the team. He and I cannot thank Peter enough for all his efforts. Clubmark has introduced to the club the concept of an investment plan that reflects the necessary development of Eastcote CC and its facilities. We have been ambitious by starting projects that are costly but vital. Funding has therefore become the focus over the last 6 months or so and a progress report from Peter follows this report. At this point I make no apologies for reminding members once again of some important points of “housekeeping”. These have been included in my last two reports but I make no apologies for repeating them here. I hope and believe that, if we all behave like good club members, the club will be an even more enjoyable place for us all to spend time together.

1. Membership – we are a members club, and therefore admittance is restricted to those members. Members are entitled to invite guests who should be signed in at the guest book at the bar. As stated in the constitution this is intended for occasional visits and therefore guests are restricted to 1 visit per calendar month (regardless of which member signs them in). If your guests enjoy the club, please ask them to apply for membership (application forms are behind the bar) and then pay the appropriate subscription.

2. Respect – please remember that the club is predominately run by volunteers.

Please therefore do not create work for others. For example, do return your glasses to the bar, put your cigarette ends in the ashtrays and bins and remember that otherwise it will probably be a volunteer who has to clear up after you. Please also remember that this is a family club. Your behaviour and language should be suitable and not offensive.

3. Cricket – on match days the seats on the veranda are to be given priority to the players and members who wish to watch the cricket. There is a supply of chairs in the changing room corridor or in the 3rd team changing room if you wish to sit outside. If you do wish to watch the cricket and seats are not available on the veranda please do not be afraid to politely ask the people using them, but not watching the cricket, to move.

4. Children – this is a family club and members’ children are always welcome. But please remember that, as parents or guardians, it is your responsibility to control them. With cricket balls from both pitches and the nets, and also a road, down which cars still sometimes drive too fast, we are determined to reduce the risks of accidents. Also please ensure you and they clear up any litter you may create.

As I draw to a close, I must thank and congratulate everyone who has contributed to ECC’s remarkable success over the last few years in particular. Many people both on committee and in a variety of other roles such as umpiring, scoring, teas, and bar work dedicate an enormous amount of time to the cause and it is most appreciated. In particular, I would like to thank Paul Manley who stepped up to make a major contribution in his first year as Players Representative. As with colts, the club as a whole needs more volunteers to share the increasing workload. This will help us organise the management and succession planning that will help ECC to maintain the momentum we have experienced in recent times as we continue to grow. Please step forward if you feel you can contribute more. John Clouting 22 November 2012

Facility Improvements at the Club – An update Over the last few years we have been constantly trying to improve the club and facilities within the resources and finance available. This has included new furniture, carpet and curtains within the lounge and new equipment for the ground. Earlier this year we reviewed some of the larger projects required and how we could obtain funding for these. Each form of grant funding available has restrictions on what can and can’t be included. We initially submitted an application to the London Borough of Hillingdon under their Chrysalis scheme for the projects below and have received a grant of c£57.000. This is for:-

1) Putting in new drainage around the square so as to eliminate the black layer of soil at present sitting under the square.

2) Replacing the nets, which are now coming to the end of their present life. The new facility will be fully enclosed, which will improve safety by preventing balls coming out and potentially causing injury.

3) Laying a new Astro wicket, which has also come to the time it needs replacing 4) Obtaining a large metal storage unit for storage of equipment not regularly used

and therefore creating more space in the club. This includes Funday equipment, spare tables and equipment in the loft not often used.

The grant will pay for the majority of this, but following a members meeting held at the club on 6th September, we now think that this amount will almost certainly fall short as:-

a) The drainage is to be extended so as to allow, when funds permit, 2 grass practice wickets at the edge of the main square

b) It was agreed that the nets should be a minimum of 32metres/35 yards which is longer than that specified in our original quote

c) The Astro pitch which gets enormous use by the colts will be moved to the other side of the square to allow for 2 additional grass wickets to be installed. The grant will cover the Astro but not laying of the additional wickets.

We have received some generous donations from colt’s parents, and the ambitious aim therefore is that with this contribution and existing club funds we may be able to complete all these projects before the start of the new season. At the meeting in September, proposed drawings for an extension to the 3rd team changing rooms were shown. The individual changing rooms are at present very small, and also offer very little privacy. An initial “ball park” estimate for expansion and improvement was obtained for £108,000. The consensus of the meeting was that we initially try and obtain funds for this and only downscale our ambitions if these could not be obtained. Two separate grant applications are in progress for £50,000 each and we shall know if we are successful with one of these in mid December and the other in the New Year. We have also had to submit a planning application. We have worked hard to prove ourselves as a local community club and endorsements of support obtained from the 2 local resident associations and the conservation group will certainly add weight to our applications. We will keep members up to date with all these exciting developments and hopefully will have a further progress update for the AGM.

1st XI Report 2012 Johnny Brough

Ok, I know, half of you are wondering why I am writing the 1st XI Report and the other half are thinking “who on earth is Johnny Brough and what has he got to do with Eastcote Ones”. No I have not discovered, somewhat belatedly in life, a latent ability as a top flight amateur cricketer (no matter how much I may wish that I had!). I am merely filling in a big hole that has been left. After being cajoled and coerced into a second year as 1st XI skipper, Simon Butler has decided to call it day and other pressures and priorities have led to me writing my maiden 1st XI Report. After my 1st XI debut at the end of season I can only see this as a fitting start [and end] to my 1st XI career – but given the debacle that precipitated that particular shameful episode in our club’s history and the events that led up to it - I think that the less said here about that the better. So let us focus on the positives, and there are many in what was, after all, a very successful league campaign for Eastcote. Simon led his team well on the field of play and after the first 3 weekends we had thrashed Brondesbury by 9 wickets, Finchley by 8 and Hornsey by 7. We were sitting on top of the league with daylight between ourselves and Teddington and Eastcote were one of the big boys of the Middlesex League, rightly feared by the other clubs as a team to be reckoned with. Oh but how the mighty fell when Teddington came calling the next week. Long our bogey side, we once again managed to conjure a defeat after having them on the ropes, Tom Scollay had scored an imperious century and we only needed 40 odd to win with overs and wickets in hand but a spirited display from the Teddington overseas (a tenacious Australian who, like so many of his countrymen, didn’t seem to know when he was beaten), running in from the boundary and venting steam. Nick Ellsmore produced a match winning master class in how to rout a fragile tail with aggressive seam bowling to leave us all stunned. Nobody was surprised when we visited Bushy Park a couple of weeks later and lost to Teddington again, the fire in our eyes had been extinguished and in a season when the usual round-robin of home and away fixtures had been disrupted by the London Olympics one can only assume that the memories were still too raw. This seemed to develop into a pattern for the year, we were imperious against the lesser mortals of the Premier League, but it seemed that when we faced the cricketing Demi-Gods of Winchmore Hill, Teddington and Ealing we struggled to compete. We lost to Teddington (twice), got annihilated by Winchmore Hill (twice), and clung on for losing draws to Ealing (twice). Everywhere else we dominated. Looking at the league averages we featured well in the batting numbers, with Adam Rossington in 4th place with 621 runs, just behind in 5th was Tom Scollay with an even 600. Ben Dougall made a fine contribution with 441 to put 3 Eastcote men in the league top 10. Simon Butler made 412 and was 12th. Unfortunately we did not figure so well in the bowling numbers, Ravi Patel was our best with 7th place with 29 wickets and although we lost badly we should remember that he

almost bowled out the mighty Winchmore Hill on his own with a remarkable 8-28 when they came to us. Rolling back the years was David Goodchild who took 22 wickets. Paul Metcalf took 18 wickets and Gurjit Sandhu, who missed a lot of games through injury, 14. The Ones finished in a very creditable 4th place with 92 points, the analysis shows 8 wins, 2 winning draws, 2 losing draws (Ealing), 4 losses (Teddington and Winchmore Hill). 2 matches were lost to the weather – Brondesbury at home and Hampstead away. There are always very many people to thank, for that is the nature of club life. A lot of people work to make the cricket go smoothly. Sometimes the match itself doesn’t go quite so smoothly as the organizational effort that led up to it– but that is always down to the guys who step onto the field of play. The point is that before a ball is bowled a lot of work has already been done, and will continue being done long after stumps has been called. Chief amongst these is Simon Butler, the other captains, cricketing and colts officials. The Management Committee work tirelessly and for the most part behind the scenes, making sure that the club functions, without them we are nothing. More visible are our Umpires who give up time so that we can focus on playing the game. In the first XI we are fortunate to have panel Umpires, but we must also thank the club members who stand in the middle. Our band of scorers also play a vital role, of course the first team will single out the matchless Tim Hayes along with David Church, but there are other scorers in all elevens. Some of whom took to Jarred Sewell’s CricHQ iPad App like a duck to water, others like a duck to l’Orange sauce. On that note special thanks are due to Jarred for crossing the world to come and play for us, even if his very significant contribution to Eastcote Cricket Club is not echoed in the scorebook. What can be said of the ladies who provide our cricket lunches and teas that has not already been said? Eastcote have a long held reputation for providing the finest cricket teas on the circuit and this reputation is intact thanks to the pride and hard work of an ever decreasing posse of Eastcote’s finest and, ladies, we thank you. Our reputation in other areas is somewhat tarnished by recent events, this we can work on. Max and Billy run a great bar and keep the clubhouse in good shape. We also must thank our groundsman, Chris Wilkins, for preparing the pitches in all weather – this year we had a lot of rain and the task was not an easy one. Peter Millward made sure that matters related to the ground were drawn to the attention of the committee, this is a challenging job and we appreciate the work. There are always of course the supporters of the club to thank, it makes a difference to have support and at home we have always been blessed with good support. It is also very gratifying when we run out to play at some ground which is a slog of a drive through North London on a busy Saturday morning to see some familiar faces on the boundary cheering for us – thank you all. Finally it just remains to look forward to a more cohesive year in 2013, Paul Manley is a fantastic players representative and the return of Mr. Tickle himself, Paul Martin, to

officialdom will I am sure help us to realize our full potential and develop the talent that we undoubtedly have within the club. Seasons greetings to one and all, and lets look forward to next year! Johnny Brough

1st XI Batting Averages

Name Inns NOs HS Runs Ave 50s 100s

Adam Rossington 12 4 142* 621 77.63 3 2

Tom Scollay 14 2 114 600 50 6 1

Ben Dougall 13 1 81* 441 36.75 4 0

Simon Butler 14 2 87 412 34.33 3 0

Ravi Patel 6 0 62 228 38 1 0

David Goodchild 10 3 52* 173 24.71 1 0

Vinay Shah 9 2 56 160 22.86 1 0

Harpal Sagoo 8 3 41* 115 23 0 0

Jarred Sewell 8 1 21 69 9.86 0 0

James Corbett 3 3 29* 69 0 0 0

Aman Lotay 6 1 20 47 9.4 0 0

Alan Coleman 4 1 26 34 11.33 0 0

Phil Costard 1 0 26 26 26 0 0

Charlie Hobday 1 0 19 19 19 0 0

Jehan Jeffrie 1 1 19* 19 0 0 0

Gurjit Sandhu 4 1 13 18 6 0 0

George Horsley 2 0 15 16 8 0 0

Edward Stolle 1 0 12 12 12 0 0

Paul Metcalfe 5 3 6 11 5.5 0 0

Christopher James 2 0 8 9 4.5 0 0

Rob Stone 1 0 7 7 7 0 0

John Bowers 1 0 6 6 6 0 0

Matthew Savage 1 1 3* 3 0 0 0

Jivan Lotay 1 0 2 2 2 0 0

Angad Lotay 1 1 2* 2 0 0 0

Clint Wolverson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

1st XI Bowling Averages

Name Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Ave Best 5w

Ravi Patel 165.2 29 499 29 17.21 8-28 2

David Goodchild 186.3 35 616 22 28 4-35 0

Paul Metcalfe 127.2 19 508 18 28.22 6-57 1

Gurjit Sandhu 79 14 281 17 16.53 6-39 2

Tom Scollay 84 7 347 12 28.92 4-94 0

Jarred Sewell 89.4 16 263 8 32.88 3-52 0 Adam Rossington 16 1 79 3 26.33 3-28 0

Jivan Lotay 24 3 116 3 38.67 3-87 0

James Corbett 27 0 138 3 46 2-57 0

Alan Coleman 11 15 33 2 16.5 1-10 0

Vinay Shah 32.5 2 146 2 73 1-32 0

Matthew Savage 14 2 45 1 45 1-16 0

Clint Wolverson 4 0 21 0 0 0-21 0

Rob Stone 2 0 7 0 0 0-7 0

Charlie Hobday 2 0 19 0 0 0-19 0

George Horsley 1 0 19 0 0 0-19 0

1st XI Catches

Name Catches David Goodchild 6

Tom Scollay 5

Ravi Patel 5

Ben Dougall 4

Paul Metcalfe 2

Simon Butler 2

Alan Coleman 2

Harpal Sagoo 2

James Corbett 1

George Horsley 1

Aman Lotay 1

Jarred Sewell 1

Rob Stone 1 Matthew Savage 1

2nd XI Report 2012 The 2013 season was always going to be a challenging one for the newly-promoted second eleven and the early performances indicated that it could be a long season ahead but I believed there was enough talent and experience at our disposal to produce results to survive, which was our only aim having been relegated two years previously. Our league campaign started away to Acton and with neither teams having had much cricket under their belts due to the adverse weather conditions a total of one-hundred and ninety-seven runs were scored and eighteen wickets fell as both teams batted abysmally on a decent deck. Acton edged it by two wickets. Gav Singh took 4 wickets. The next two league games saw much needed improvements with back to back home wins, firstly a seven-wicket win against Finchley with new arrival Clint Wolverson starring with the ball taking 7-61 off 20 overs on his debut. Jawaad Rasheed top scored with 55 as there were no dramas chasing down 169. Secondly, a 98-run victory over Shepherds Bush with skipper Phil Costard scoring a half-century then Clint Wolverson again in the wickets with 4-38 and leg-break bowler Avi Singh finishing with impressive figures of 4-13 off 4.2 overs. The next six games were tough going for the second team only managing two points from a possible sixty and the season was slowly turning into a relegation scrap. Although Eastcote did display their fighting spirit at home to Ealing, Ealing posted a mammoth score and left Eastcote little option but to play for a point, the in-form Chris James produced a chanceless knock of 83 and the emerging young talent in the form of Aman Lotay scored a hard earned 35 as the close Ealing fielders grew frustrated. I would like to think this result set us in good stead, highlighting the fact we'd have to work very for every point especially against the top teams like Ealing, Teddington, Richmond and Hampstead. The second half of the season started with a cancelled home fixture versus Acton meaning that we only had twenty-three points on the board after week ten but the transformation which was about to take place between now and the end of the season no one had expected. Eastcote travelled to Finchley and won a very important toss as they dismissed the hosts for 113 on a wet one. Rob Stone was the chief destructor with 6-35. In reply ECC were 35-4 but a patient partnership of 80 between Jamo and Costard saw them home with Jamo playing the aggressor, scoring 44*. Next up was the crushing home victory over Stanmore, all the bowlers chipped in, most notably Matt Savage with 3-41 then Jamo carried on his good form with 55* but it was Jawaad starring with the willow with 87*. The two's were creeping up the table away from the drop zone but were left frustrated by bottom club Harrow and had to make do with four points after Jawaad again showed his class with 132 and Sav scored his maiden league half century for the club. The two's went to a revenge-seeking Stanmore who proved much stiffer opposition this time around but we deservedly took the points. James Roan bowled well during his 16 overs, claiming 4-58. Ed Stolle, saw us home with a very mature knock of 75 on a dusty wicket, after Clint Wolverson had smashed 47 at the top of the order.

Eastcote were now pushing for a top five finish as relegation worries eased and knew a win at Harrow would guarantee survival. Eastcote won the toss as they didn’t want a repeat of the negative cricket displayed by the opposition two weeks earlier. All the bowlers played their part but it was Sam Moody who returned figures of 3-11 off 7 overs. With an inexperienced batting line-up it was important the senior players saw them home with the bat, Jamo was again performing to the highest of his ability scoring 92* and Ed Stolle was free-flowing in his 37*. The game of the season came at home to table topping Teddington knowing a win would secure them the title, Teddington clearly meant business as they amassed 256-7 off 36.2 surely thinking that would be enough against a make-shift Eastcote side but Eastcote's main stalwarts Jawaad Rasheed and Chris James had other ideas against the best seam attack in the league. The pair put on a master class 3rd-wichet partnership of 180 before Jamo fell for 88 but Jawaad went on to complete his 2nd ton of the season and was eventually dismissed for 107. Eastcote still required 30-odd and the light was deteriorating rapidly but the left-handed duo of Matt Savage (18*) and seventeen year old Charlie Hobday (19*) saw the boys to an unbelievable victory. The last two games of the season saw Eastcote 2nd XI once again field make-shift sides as the 1st XI availability faded and the 3rd's were obviously keen to keep the side which was so close to sealing the title, the 4ths were also look seeking automatic promotion. The 2's once again exceeded themselves and put in a spirited performance as Matt Savage, standing-in as captain, led by example claiming 6-69, Eastcote nervously chased down Hampstead's 184 target eventually winning by two wickets, Jamo (44), Rhino (38) James Ballie (36) and Sav (33) all contributing. The last game of the season saw the 2nd XI host Richmond with either team knowing a win would guarantee a runners-up finish behind champions Teddington. I’m not sure how the story of the game went as myself and a few other two's players were filling in for the 1st team over at Winchmore Hill but I heard Matt Savage bettered his previous week’s figures, this time taking 7-79. Ex 1st XI skipper Clive Wallis and the shot-a-ball John Bowers gave chase scoring 58 and 52 respectively, however once they and Matt Savage (40) were dismissed the game was up and with results not going our way we ended up having to make do with a 5th placed finish having started the day 2nd. All in all I'd say the season was a successful one, we set out at the start to survive which we did. However, I believe this is just a platform for 2013 where we can improve and fight for honours, in doing so we need to work harder in practice and availability needs to be more consistent over all four teams. Phil Costard 2nd XI Captain

3rd XI Report 2012 Hello my friends. Once again we find ourselves in the winter months, clinging on to the memories of summer evenings outside the club with jugs of beer celebrating our victories. I must first start by giving Messham Chohan and his family our best wishes and support for the loss they endured this summer. You were in our thoughts all summer, on and off the field. The season started well for us. A comfortable fixture at home against Stanmore was an easy start to 2012. This was a perfect opportunity for the team to pull together and start the year’s campaign by winning a confident 10 points. Before the game the team talk was directed to the season. Everybody had made their feelings abundantly clear that this year finishing 2nd or 3rd in the league would not suffice. Bitter memories and sore feelings from the past few seasons, where we had come so close to winning the league, were clearly a motivating force for the team. We took to the field and delivered a positive performance to claim the 1st victory of the season. After bowling Stanmore out for 124, we knocked off the total in 34 overs and 3 wickets down. Stanley (5-35) and Raj (59 not out) lead the way by finding early form. Bretton Bird (Budgie) also found form...but dropped it....5 times. Budgies comical contribution at short leg must not be underestimated. If this team were to witness 20 overs of Stan’s bowling every game, we would need something to keep us entertained. Well done Budge. The ever present problem of availability at the beginning of the season was just as much of an issue this year. With boys at uni and younger boys playing cricket for their schools, I couldn’t help but wonder? When did we get so many posh boys at our club? I don’t recall Haydon School plaguing my weekends? However, I was blessed with the return of one of ECCs most promising colts from back in the day. More likely to be found these days modelling topless for Greek catalogues, or massaging older ladies with his magical hands, Stephen (Chid) Chandler was back. Though it may have only been a career move for Chid to collect more patients for his business (Chandler osteopathy.......you owe me a pint for the name drop Chid) it was great to have him back again, and he proved a valuable addition to the team in the early fixtures. Hampstead away seemed the start of the season for us. Knowing that by the end of the year it would be us, Hampstead and Richmond (as in previous years) battling for the championship, this game held great importance. Having lost the toss and put in to bat 1st, we started poorly. The top order failed to make any great impression on the scorecard. Luckily a touch of heroic class down the order saw our total climb to 233. James Roan leading the late strike force with a powerful (ish) 59, accompanied by his brother Andy (Schofield) Roan 22 and Uncle Stan 32, he really put us back in the game. Despite a strong bowling performance Hampstead managed to hang on, limiting us to a valuable 4 points. Pepper’s 16 overs 2-61 and Stans 17 overs 5-48 were the highlights of the innings. The next match was Ealing away (I promise I’m not writing this game for game). I remember this game as an opportunity missed. Eastcote were clearly the stronger side but did not produce a good enough performance which meant we left the game with 1 point. Ealing batted 1st and put 244 on the board in 53 overs. Andy Roan the pick of the bowlers with 18

overs 5-81. A strong start to our innings by myself (32) and Aman Lotay (31) seemed to have our team on track. However neither batsman went on to score big which left pressure on our mid order to pick up the task in hand. Despite a hard grafted 33 from Raj and a hard hitting 50 from John Bowers, the team were losing wickets too fast and were forced to shut up shop finishing on 185 for 8. The lesson for the day was clear. Starting well is good, but you need to make it count and be ruthless (a phase that would become well known to our team throughout the year). In the next three fixtures we gave a clear and far more convincing display of our strengths. Due to the season’s crazy fixture list (to make travel more convenient during the Olympics) we had a run of Hornsey home and away and another chance at Ealing at home only a week after playing them away. We knew as a team that we couldn’t afford any slip ups with these games. Hornsey were struggling at the bottom of the league and Ealing looked a far less dominant force than in previous seasons. The plan was to take maximum points, a plan our team executed with precision and class. Stan the Man again showing us that like a fine wine, cricketers mature better with age taking 12 wickets in 3 games. The pick of these consistent returns was his 6-70 against Ealing at Home. Aman Lotay’s 125 against Ealing was a spectacular display of batting that, not only won us the game, but confirmed to many that he is one of ECC’s most promising up and coming talents. Although these fixtures won’t be remembered greatly at the end of the season, I believe games like these are where you can win or lose leagues. It was important to win them, and we did. Richmond away was an eagerly awaited fixture that the whole team were excited to get to. Richmond won the toss and put us into bat 1st. I explained to the team, “As tossers go, i am probably the worst tosser around”. The boys suggested I worked on my technique; I wasn’t sure what they meant? The innings started well. Myself (21) and Raj (67) opened the batting and got the runs ticking over early. Unfortunately a mid order collapse put us on the back foot searching for runs to give us a half decent total to bowl at. Charley Hobday provided aid to our wounded innings by hitting an impressive and selfless 46. Another one of ECC’s future stars performed, we witnessed classic stroke play mixed with flamboyant improvisation. It was good to see Charley at his best again after a slow start to the season. I have noticed in our club, for every good batsman we have there seem to be 10 bowlers who think they are better. Sam Moody, Matt Savage, even Gav Singh fancies himself as an all rounder. No-one a was a better example than Danny Skilton. The Self Proclaimed “BIG hitter” finally came good against Richmond with an extreme display of power, finesse and complete stubborn stupidity. Sent in at 10 Danny hit three 6’s in a row in the same part of the field. Once the Richmond Skipper had moved everyone including the keeper to Danny’s favourite spot, it left him with the whole ground to play with. But brawn overruled brain (if brain was even present) and Danny went for his 4th consecutive 6 over the bowlers head. 4 different fielders could have caught that ball but only one was needed. As ridiculous as his dismissal was, Skilton’s late 21 proved vital to the game. We ended the innings with 189. We took to the field knowing that we didn’t have enough runs on the board, but the track was poor for batsman and we were confident in our bowling attack. Despite a huge effort from every bowler we couldn’t manage to make the impact we needed, we did however keep them from scoring and left the game with a valuable point.

After another disappointing draw against North Middlesex then 2 cancelled fixtures against Harrow and Stanmore, the season felt like it had come to a standstill. Having been lucky with the weather up till now, we were losing valuable points, due to rain, against teams we should be beating. As frustrating as this was, we knew it was important to keep focused on our game and make sure we were ready for when the monsoon season was over. Once the clouds had parted and the sun showed itself once again, we made the most of lost time by gaining maximum points in our next 2 fixtures against Hampstead and Finchley. Hampstead at home proved to be the most ridiculous victories I have ever been a part of. Having been bowled out by Hampstead for 111 and forced to start their innings before tea, there didn’t seem much hope for us. We managed to get them 3 down before the break with not many runs on the board. I gave James Corbett 1 over before tea to show Hampstead what firepower we had waiting for them later that afternoon. This proved effective as we could hear the Hampstead Batsman mumbling in the bar “he’s a bit quick ain’t he”. This was a massive boost for our team and we took to the field the more confident of the two teams. With Corb’s pace and Stan’s lack of, we managed to bowl them out for 109. Stan with ANOTHER 5 wicket haul, Corbs (2-26) and Avi Anand (3-32) won us the game. We entered the final phase of the season needing to win our remaining games having drawn against Brentham, and lost against Finchley. This was the only game we lost this year, despite a classic Tony Norris hundred. Out of respect for Paul Manly (because we love you... and you scored 136 not out the game before.) that’s all I shall say about that game. So we now know that if we want to win the League we have to win our games, there was no room at the top of the table for draws with us, Richmond and Hampstead all within a point or two of each other. This was going to be another close finish. The end of the season is hard for me to put into words. Luckily I know a lot of you were a part of it so I don’t have to explain to you how incredible the last games were. It is impossible to write how Ben Frais’s catch at 1st slip in the last over of the match against North Middlesex to win the game, made the whole team feel and believe that we can, this year, win the league. It is equally as impossible to describe to the feeling of finally beating Richmond at the end of the season by 138 runs. Everybody realised what was needed of them and every single individual played out of their skin. Watching how Jehan Jefffrie had matured as a fast bowler was inspiring to our bowling attack which he became such a valuable part of. Against Richmond, Stan AGAIN bowled out of his wrinkly old skin and got another 6 wicket haul. The welcome addition of Stef Saleem was a massive bonus for our team, not just for his banter but for his contributions with the bat (85 against Richmond, 77 against North Middlesex). Paul Manley was becoming more and more reliable with every game and his 92 against North Middlesex was up there with one of his best batting performances I have had the pleasure to witness. Raj had been a rock in the batting line up of our team all year, constantly adding valuable runs to our totals especially his 67 against North Middlesex. As we entered the final game of the season, we were top of the league. We needed one more victory against Harrow to see us win the championship safely. With this in mind, I couldn’t believe I was missing the last game. More importantly, I couldn’t believe I left Ben Frais in charge. Working on the policy of “3rd time’s a charm” I figured that not even he could mess this up, not this time.

As I was in Australia, sunning myself pool side with a cold VB beer, I sat by my phone till the early hours of the Aussie morning eagerly awaiting the scores. It was hard to convince my girlfriend how important this was as I’m sure she thought we were wasting a night of our holiday. Some things women just don’t understand, this was very much one of them. I finally got news from multiple sources of our victory. I was over the moon. Paul Manley 51, Raj, 31, even Budgie decided it was time to score some runs with his 61. Stan 3-72, JJ 3-49. I only had the stats to look at. But I could imagine exactly how the team were, the pressure each of them were under and the complete feeling of utter orgasmic sensation when the last wicket was taken. This was my first year as ECC 3rd team Captain and it gave me great pleasure and near x-rated joy to have been part of this Championship winning team. WELL DONE BOYS, I LOVE YA Will Dunn 3rd Team Captain

Bowling Averages

First name Surname Matches Overs balls Maidens Runs Wickets Best bowling Average Economy

Sam Moody 2 8 0 2 38 0 0 for 0 0 4.75

Charlie Hobday 10 3 0 1 17 0 0 for 8 0 5.67

George Horsley 5 2 0 0 12 0 0 for 12 0 6

Jazib Naeem 1 3 0 0 39 0 0 for 39 0 13

John Saleem 4 1 0 0 15 0 0 for 15 0 15

Neil Stevens 16 233 0 66 674 50 6 for 67 13.48 2.89

Jehan Jeffrie 5 38 1 5 141 10 3 for 32 14.1 3.69

James Roan 3 28 4 3 99 7 3 for 21 14.14 3.45

Sumit Anand 3 17 0 4 72 5 5 for 33 14.4 4.24

Will Dunn 14 13 0 6 30 2 1 for 10 15 2.31

Avi Anand 6 59 0 13 179 11 3 for 32 16.27 3.03

Aman Lotay 6 34 0 8 114 7 3 for 76 16.29 3.35

Danny Skilton 7 44 0 6 197 9 3 for 19 21.89 4.48

Gav Singh 11 113 3 11 374 17 4 for 49 22 3.3

Andy Roan 13 84 1 8 356 16 5 for 81 22.25 4.23

James Corbett 2 18 0 1 59 2 2 for 26 29.5 3.28

Steve "Chid" Chandler 3 13 0 1 72 2 1 for 34 36 5.54

Bretton Bird 10 7 0 0 47 1 1 for 47 47 6.71

Batting Averages

First name Surname Matches Innings Not Outs

Runs High score

Average Hundreds Fifties Catches Stumpings Fours Sixes

Stefan Saleem 5 5 3 232 85 116 0 2 0 0 23 2

Paul Manley 8 8 3 514 136* 102.8 1 5 0 0 33 1

James Roan 3 1 0 59 59 59 0 1 0 0 0 0

Hassaan Mohamed 2 2 0 115 92 57.5 0 1 0 0 14 2

John Bowers 1 1 0 50 50 50 0 1 0 0 0 0

Tony Norris 6 6 2 170 105* 42.5 1 0 3 0 14 1

Danny Millward 3 3 0 120 81 40 0 1 0 0 15 5

Raj Siva Kumar 14 14 2 476 67 39.67 0 3 4 3 31 1

Aman Lotay 6 6 0 233 125 38.83 1 0 1 0 19 3

James Corbett 2 2 0 72 58 36 0 1 0 0 0 0

Neil Stevens 16 6 4 59 32 29.5 0 0 4 0 4 0

Bretton Bird 10 10 2 224 75 28 0 2 0 0 31 2

Danny Skilton 7 4 1 74 21* 24.67 0 0 1 0 5 0

Chris Wilkins 4 3 2 19 13* 19 0 0 0 0 0 0

Ben Frais 4 4 0 74 41 18.5 0 0 0 0 10 0

Will Dunn 14 14 1 233 80 17.92 0 1 0 0 21 2

John Saleem 4 4 0 61 34 15.25 0 0 0 0 11 0

George Horsley 5 2 0 25 13 12.5 0 0 0 0 0 0

Andy Roan 13 6 3 37 22 12.33 0 0 1 0 0 0

Adam Maxted 1 1 0 12 12 12 0 0 0 0 0 0

Charlie Hobday 10 7 0 80 46 11.43 0 0 1 0 2 0

Sam Moody 2 1 0 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jazib Naeem 1 1 0 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 1 0

Gav Singh 11 4 1 21 19* 7 0 0 1 0 2 1

Avi Anand 6 2 1 6 5* 6 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jean-Sebastian Saleem 1 1 0 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 1 0

Mike Hoy 1 1 1 0 0* 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Steve "Chid" Chandler 3 1 1 2 2* 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Rhodri James 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Sumit Anand 3 1 1 10 10* 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Harpal Sagoo 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

4th XI Report 2012 The 4th XI this year had a successful season sealing promotion from Division 9 but just missed out on the League title. Of the 13 League games that were played, 10 were won, 2 were drawn, and only 1 was lost. We lost 2 games to the weather and 2 games to oppositions not being able to raise a side. The first 2 games of the season were lost to a combination of poor weather and the opposition not being able to raise a side. When we did finally get on the pitch for the third game we had a comfortable 8 wicket win against Cookham Dean. Wickets from Adam Maxted (2) and Chris Wilkins (3) restricted them to 234 off 52 overs. An unbeaten hundred from the Skipper and a fifty from Chris Wilkins meant we reached the target fairly comfortably in just 37 overs. Next up were Boyne Hill who lost the toss and watched Eastcote rattle up 321 off 45 overs. The Skipper got another ton; Danny Millward was (unluckily) out for 99; a partnership of 187 between the two and also an unbeaten 51 from Chris Wilkins meant we could declare 5 overs early. This, however, was not enough as we struggled to get wickets on a very good batting track. In the end Boyne Hill managed to bat out their overs, making 227 for 5 which included their number 3 batting for 40 overs and ending up 18 not out. Although it was a great knock for his side it did test our love for the game as this was as painful a block-out as I have ever played in. On the 9th June we went to Hillingdon Manor looking to make up some ground on the league leaders, and on a pretty damp and unpleasant wicket we managed to keep them down to just 152 off their 52 overs. This chase was never going to be easy as they had a pretty useful attack on the surface we were playing, but steadily we knocked the runs off, thanks to a well paced innings by Jazz Naeem and some late lusty blows by Danny Skilton. We reached our target with 6 overs spare and only 4 wickets down, Danny ended up with 40 not out and Jazz 37 not out. Marlow were our next opponents and when we were put into bat, we managed to make 235 off our 52 overs. Most batsmen contributed with Sam Moody top scoring with 49. This game was heading for a draw until the skipper threw the ball to self titled “part time” seamer Jazz, who proceeded to blow the opposition away with figures of 6-42, and bowling 5 of his victims, the other one came in the form of a diving catch in front of 1st slip from Adam “Louie” Holmes. This was a great win and it felt good gaining 25 points for the first time this season. Ickenham came to Eastcote the following week and batted first, which as it turned out meant the game was over before Tea as we bowled them out for 64, with 4 wickets a piece for Chid and Aaron, while Joe Daver chipped in with a couple. Chid’s figures of 16-12-16-4 included the startling fact that when he was hit to the boundary during his 13th over he had just conceded his 2,3,4 and 5th runs of his spell !. The runs were knocked off in some style in just 8.1 overs with Sam Moody again in the runs with 38 not out. One of the benefits of the game finishing early was an almighty effort by the team in the bar after the game which led to many a sore head the following day.

Next up were Hayes, who pretty much went the same way as Ickenham the previous week. Batting first they posted only 80 in which Chid continued his fine form by taking 13-3-44-7. Phil Smith took 2 wickets with his newly created off spin, which replaced his rather less well designed seam variety! As with the previous week we chased the total in pretty quick time, taking 11.3 overs and again Sam Moody was the major contributor with 49 not out. True to form we celebrated our second pre-tea victory in the bar after the game. Datchett came to Eastcote next with our team flying with confidence. A wet pitch greeted the players and there were some negative noises coming from the opposition about the state of the pitch, until their skipper turned up and said “Lets get this game started ASAP” which was a relief to me as there was a lot of rain around. Datchett won the toss and decided to bat first and were all out for 100. In a guest appearance for the 4’s, Stanley took 3 wickets in only 4 overs to clean up the tail after Jazz had taken 3 wickets for 8 runs in his 8 over spell. Yet again we chased down the total in double quick time, needing 14.3 overs on this occasion with Stef James making 46 not out , and his brother Rhod seeing us through to a 3rd successive victory prior to the tea break. This also took us to the top of the league as we were the only game to be played in the division that day due to the wonderful British summertime we were all experiencing! On the 21st July we visited Farnham Common. Buoyed by our recent performances and league position, we batted first in an attempt to get the 25 points, this was helped greatly by the news that the opposition only had 9 men. Even though we were scoring at a fast rate we kept on throwing our wickets away, and at the halfway point, against some pretty poor bowling, we were 150 for 5 with not a huge amount of batting to come. At this point something very surprising happened. As Phil Smith went into bat, I told him how I wanted him to approach his innings, worried that if we were all out for 180 they would have had maybe 70 overs to chase it down. “Play straight, play sensible and do not take any risks” I said. Well he only went and did it! Phil and Jazz batted really well together to take us to 285 for 5 off 45 overs. In doing so, Phil made his maiden half century for the club, and ended up 60 not out, with Jazz scoring another 90 well played runs, also not out. A couple of weeks previously, Phil had been very disappointed with being dropped and had informed me that he would be taking wickets and scorings runs so I could never drop him again. To his great credit he had managed it and was not left out of the side for the rest of the season, which was great to see. When Farnham batted they struggled after early wickets from Jazz (4) had broken the back of their already depleted numbers, and with Smithy taking care of the tail end with 3 for 8 they ended up all out for 59, a massive win by 226 runs and 25 points in the bag. The 28th July saw OMT’s visit Southill Lane, and having bowled out the opposition for less than 100 in the previous 5 games, I decided to bat first in an attempt to get the maximum 25 points. On another belting batting track, Budge and I put on 198 for the first wicket, with Budge making 79. With the bowling somewhat generous and the outfield fast, the runs flowed allowing us to declare on 320-2 off only 40 overs. I scored 162 in the process. With 60 overs to bowl the opposition out we were pretty confident, even though we were missing Chid after he broke his heel not being able to handle his drink on holiday. 35 overs later however with the opposition 200-0 things did not look so good. In the end we only

took 3 wickets and remain surprised why the opposition didn’t really try to get the runs as they ended up 276-3 which having had 60 overs to get them. The wicket defeated us that day as having tried 8 bowlers there weren’t any options that were not explored in the hunt for wickets. We travelled to Boyne Hill the following week knowing only victory would keep us in the hunt for the title. I won the toss and decided to be positive, and went for the 25 points, this resulted in the only time we were bowled out this season, and to say we all had an off day was an understatement. Every time the ball went in the air it was caught and only James Baillie applied himself making a fine 38 not out in our underwhelming total of 99. Boyne Hill chased the total down for only 3 wickets in 29 overs. We were never in this game, from beginning to end. It was our worst performance of the season, and proved to be the end of our title chances. A determined Eastcote side travelled to NPL Teddington the week after keen to put what turned out to be our only defeat behind us. Deciding to concentrate on just getting promotion we put NPL into bat and bowled them out for 145, with Adam Maxted taking his first 5 wicket haul with some very good straight bowling, on what turned out to be a rare day of summer in the 2012 season. We chased this score down in 21.3 overs with George Horsley scoring a fluent 81, and we won by 8 wickets in the end. Will Bramble took the reins for the Cookham Dean game as I was away over-indulging on an all-inclusive break in Tenerife. We took a very inexperienced team that day and there were some outstanding performances. Firstly, from Peter Millward as he was playing his first game for the 4’s this season, taking 5-24 off 9.1 overs. With Joe Daver also taking 3-18 off 8 overs we restricted them to 142. As the batting line up was very much weakened by the holiday period affecting the whole of the club, it was left to contributions from Iain Leonard (30 not out) and a fantastic 52 from Aaron Phillips. Aaron had not had a bat all season, yet batted with maturity way beyond his years as we finally got home with only 2 wickets remaining but plenty of overs in the bag. This victory confirmed our promotion as we could not be caught. Our final game of the season at Chenies and Latimer left us with an outside chance of the title, but we needed to win the toss to have the chance of maximum points. This was somewhat ruined when I called incorrectly and was informed by their skipper “we are going to deny you the 25 points”, which seemed a touch strange as they had nothing to play for. In any case, we took to the field knowing only a win will do, and with the help of another fine bowling display from Adam Maxted (5-22) we bowled them out for 66. The returning Chid also took 4 wickets for 7 runs in 7 overs! The total was chased down before the tea interval again (7.4 overs) as Will Bramble took the bowling to all parts of the ground to end the game by 2:30. This was all to no avail as Hillingdon Manor won their last game and we finished the season in 2nd place. When you consider the league winners won all but one of their games (when we beat them), you can see that we were up against a strong side. The fact we only played them once helped them as no other teams could take points off them, meaning we were constantly chasing their tail throughout the season.

The Bowling award goes to Chid Chandler as he performed consistently through out the season when fit, and bowling 84 overs at just over 2 runs an over shows he has the ball on a string at times The Batting award goes to Jazz Naeem. His batting this season was very consistent and he always valued his wicket, as his average of 94.5 would suggest, he played the situation wonderfully. Along with his bowling he proved to be a major influence on the team and a very good addition to the club, even if he has the ability to appeal for absolutely anything when bowling, the sight of him with his head in his hands as the batsmen middles a defensive shot will no doubt be repeated next season! As this was the first season I have been captain at Eastcote I was a touch apprehensive about how the players would take to my style of captaincy. I need not have worried. I would like to thank every single player (37 used) that played for the 4’s this year, and all the efforts they made to make this season a success. It was really appreciated that all the players who were dropped and then asked to play on a Friday night did so without complaint and this contributed to the wonderful team spirit I felt the team had throughout the season. My thanks also go to Jill Maxted for scoring. As usual, her ability to score and make it look tidy was even more appreciated when the players had to do it, and it was a mess that’s for sure. Thanks also go to Andrew Baillie for umpiring when he was available, and also for Sam Moody donning the umpires coat when injury intervened during the season. Giving up your free time to help out the club is a wonderful gesture, and without these people’s commitment we would be much worse off. Hopefully the coming season can be just as successful and who knows, back to back promotion could be possible. For us to bridge the gap between the 3rd team league and the 4’s is crucial as we introduce younger players into the league sides, and hopefully this season has closed it in some way. Thanks James 4th XI Captain

4th XI Batting Averages 2012

First

name Surname Matches Innings

Not

outs Runs

High

score Average 100's 50's

James Mans 12 11 1 485 162 48.5 3 0

Jazib Naeem 6 5 3 189 90* 94.5 0 1

Will Bramble 9 8 3 154 45* 30.8 0 0

Sam Moody 4 3 2 136 49* 136 0 0

Danny Millward 2 2 0 135 99 67.5 0 1

George Horsley 4 3 0 131 81 43.67 0 1

Bretton Bird 4 4 0 130 79 32.5 0 1

Chris Wilkins 5 2 1 106 55 106 0 2

Phil Smith 11 5 2 79 60* 26.33 0 1

Aaron Phillips 9 2 1 73 52 73 0 1

Tony Norris 3 2 2 69 46* 0 0 0

John Saleem 3 3 0 59 33 19.67 0 0

Stef James 1 1 1 46 46* 0 0 0

Sudath Talpahewa 2 2 1 43 34 43 0 0

Danny Skilton 1 1 1 40 40* 0 0 0

James Baillie 2 1 1 38 38* 0 0 0

Iain Leonard 1 1 1 30 30* 0 0 0

James Fielding 2 1 0 26 26 26 0 0

Adam Holmes 10 4 1 21 10 7 0 0

Adam Maxted 7 1 0 15 15 15 0 0

4th XI Bowling Averages 2012

First

Name Surname Match overs maidens runs Wkts Best Fig Ave. econ

Chid Chandler 7 84 34 170 18 7 for 44 9.44 2.02

Jazib Naeem 6 56.3 16 117 15 6 for 42 7.8 2.07

Adam Maxted 7 53.1 12 157 13 5 for 22 12.08 2.95

Aaron Phillips 9 57 11 173 8 4 for 15 21.63 3.04

Phil Smith 11 30.1 3 123 7 3 for 8 17.57 4.08

Peter Millward 2 9.1 3 24 5 5 for 24 4.8 2.62

Joseph Daver 3 15 2 45 5 3 for 18 9 3

Chris Wilkins 5 24 3 132 5 3 for 38 26.4 5.5

Neil Stevens 1 4 2 6 3 3 for 6 2 1.5

Michael Norris 2 12 4 22 3 2 for 13 7.33 1.83

George Horsley 4 13 2 47 3 2 for 41 15.67 3.62

Danny Skilton 1 16 3 56 3 3 for 56 18.67 3.5

Sanjeewa Wijetunga 2 19 1 71 2 1 for 33 35.5 3.74

Sam Moody 4 12 6 10 1 1 for 10 10 0.83

Sunday (Academy) XI 2012 Report As a first time skipper, I came into this season with excitement, a little apprehension and ambitions of promotion for E.C.C's Academy. Unfortunately we fell agonizingly short, one place outside of the promotion places. But, we showed great promise and ability that we can hold our own within a League containing no less than 7 1st XI's for their respective clubs. Before going into detail about our ups and downs about the season I'd like to thank the many people who supported and helped me throughout. First of all to the great man himself, Mr. David Young (DCY) for sacrificing his Sunday's (and sometimes his body) to umpire the majority of our games with his usual high standards. Despite Phil Costard's best efforts to retire him. It was a great weight off mine, and the team’s shoulders that we had a umpire so regularly. In the same breath, thank you to Faisal Saleem, Andrew Bailey and John Towsin for filling in whenever they could. Secondly, to the many tea ladies who catered with their usual high standards throughout the year. As usual they were always excellent and commented on by many of our opponents. Thank you Denise, June, Carole, Ellen, Ron and Daphne Bird, Louisa, Vicky, Linda, Sara, Lyn and Janet. If I have forgotten anyone, you're welcome to clip me round the ear when you see me. Finally, thanks to the many parents who supported the team wonderfully throughout the year, transporting the youngsters to and from games. A special thanks to Dobday and Lobday, Dave and Lou. With either one, or both in attendance every Sunday to provide transport, support or just winding me up all day they were a great help in keeping morale up. Especially, as Dave will attest, during the troublesome times of following Path and Stan's attempt to navigate Alexandra Palace. Rather than bore you all with play-by-play events of each game (reports are on the website), I shall instead report on the players who contributed to the Academy's success Where else can I start than with the man himself. The quirky, the oddball, the genius that is Phil Smith. Phil came into this season with much to prove (more to himself, than any of us) and despite what he may think, proved himself an integral part of the side with both bat and ball. Phil worked incredibly hard in the nets, pushing himself to improve in all areas of his cricket and by the end of the season this work had paid off. He is now ten times the player. The highlight of his season, in the Academy, was his almost game winning performance with the ball against Hanwell, where, after getting bowled out for 164, we had a tough task of restricting them to such a small total on the hill, a batsman's paradise. With his ever improving offies, Phil claimed 4-36 and almost carried the side on it's back to unlikely victory. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be and we lost be an agonizing 1 wicket. He also contributed with the bat with some heavy hitting cameos against Shepherds Bush and Old Albanians. Phil ended as our 2nd highest wicket taker. He was also a great help throughout the season offering his services to umpire and score for extended periods without any fuss. So thanks for that, mate.

Another bright prospect for Eastcote, who came into his own this year, is Vikesh Patel. Now, Vikesh hasn't got what you'd call a 'classical' action. But what he loses in aesthetics he more than makes up for in control, seam and no little amount of passion. Vikesh always ran in hard whether he'd just taken a wicket or had been hit for 4. With his upright action he generally got the ball to nip in on even the most placid decks and didn't get the wickets his bowling justified. He is also a vocal character in the field, which is something not generally found in someone so young (this writer not included) and was always on hand to provide support to the bowlers. Keep working hard and keep that attitude up and it won't be long until you start climbing the ladder, on both Saturday and Sunday. Another great bowling prospect came to the fore this year, in Kishan Radia. An out-swing bowler (a man after my own heart) with great control and the ability to pass the edge of any batsman. Like every out-swing bowler will tell you *ahem*, you never get the rewards you deserve and that was certainly the case when Kish bowled this year. Passing the edge on numerous occasions and edges dropping short (not to mention dropped catches). But like his counterpart Vikesh, he doesn't let the frustration get to him and continues to attack the crease. He is also dynamite in the field and provided, arguably, the catch of the season in our first game against Brentham. Both feet off the floor, full length dive to his left at short cover. He is another who will find himself climbing the ladder of Saturday cricket before long. Yet another budding bowler who came into his own this year was Michael Norris, a lad who has the potential to move it both ways with his upright action and who has a canny knack of taking early wickets. Takes a wicket in his first over more than anyone I've seen. Had a baptism of fire early in the season against Shepherds Bush, where, arguably, the best batsmen in Middlesex not playing county stuff took our bowling apart for a few overs before being bowled. For a lesser man, this could have killed his spirits, but Mikey ploughed through unabated to claim a couple of wickets. He seemed to take heart from this performance and continued impressively until the end of the year. The bowling stocks of Eastcote look good for the foreseeable future. Finally, leaving the best (he'll tell you looking) to last, and the most improved player of the year, in my opinion. Mobday, Matt Hobday. 2012 saw the boy become a man, in more ways than one. But we'll stick to cricket. Matt started the year as he meant to go on with the best figures in the Academy this year in our opening fixture against Brentham. Coming on 3rd change (what was the skipper thinking), Matt destroyed a strong looking Brentham 1st XI middle order to claim his maiden 5 wicket haul (5-20). Despite the fact his front arm is pretty much nullified in his action, Matt generally gets the ball to nip in prodigiously, whether with the new or old ball. Being our leading wicket taker testified to the leaps he's made as a cricketer this year and can hope to make moves on Saturday's next year (work permitting). Again, another youngster with a great attitude and never short of some banter. Keep it up, lad. As with previous years in the Academy, the youngsters wouldn't be able to improve without the help of some, shall we say, elder statesmen to nurture them. Path Rasan, continued to show that in any form of the game, whether 100 over Saturday games or 45 a piece Sunday

games, he's a run machine. Finishing, unsurprisingly as our leading run scorer, Path showed the colts how to construct innings'. Always occupying the crease for a long time and showing the importance of giving the team wickets in hand at the end of an innings. Begrudgingly, I'd like to thank Stanley (he knows I love his jive-ass really). Always on hand, to provide the skipper a tactical insight into the ticking time bomb that is his mind during a cricket match. Jokes aside, you were a great help this year, acclimatizing me to the skipper game and what I needed to do. Cheers, mate. On the pitch, well, you all know the story. When called upon to bowl he did so with aplomb. But he was generally used as a batsman this year for me, and did so equally as well. Highlight for me was his gutsy 33 at Alexandra Park. On an absolute sponge, where runs were hard to come by and looking about as in-nick as Chris Martin on a bad day, he grounded out an important innings, even including a straight six. Not since the days of Tony Currie had that been seen and with me, he put on an important partnership that was crucial to our victory. Last of the old guard I'd like to mention is William Bramble. 'You're my friend'. Ha Ha. It was of personal pleasure to see Will back to his best this year with the bat. Looking like the player of old, who excited us youngsters so much when we first started playing adult cricket. Another who was always there for support in regards to captaincy, field placing, tactics etc. But, more importantly, keeping spirits and providing us all with endless hilarious stories in the bar. Hopefully, he can continue in the same vein for me in 2013 (provided I am skipper again). There are many others that contributed to the season, but for one reason or another (1st team, work, school, revising, no shows, surgery, wives etc.) I didn't see enough of them. Charlie Hobday showed what a great cricketer he's turning into when he wasn't having a brain fart whilst batting. 'not a pitch for the pull' he says, out playing the pull. 'Don't need to slog', he says, out slogging. 1st teamer in the making. Anthony Leonard, when not insisting he wasn't on the team-sheet as to why he hadn't shown, is improving every time I see him. Nice action with good away shape and a promising 'biffer'. The enthusiastic Mr. Joshi was always a pleasure to have around with his metronomic bowling and truly spectacular stretching routine. Tim 'Rev' Hayes provided the backbone to our batting line-up and showed his 'promise' with the bat all too briefly, when carting opening bowlers into the bushes with some big 6's. Sudath was an ever-present behind the stumps, bringing his own style of wicket keeping to the field and his flamboyant top order batting. Also, making his own hybrid version of a keeper’s face-grill, incorporating the peak of his baseball came into it with hilarious results. All in all, it was a season of great cricket, great banter and great prospects. Although, frustratingly, we fell at the final hurdle in our quest for promotion, we will come back next year stronger and more experienced. Personally, I'd like to thank the captains committee for their help with selection when I haven't been around. Namely, Paul Manley, Phil Costard, Will Dunn and James Mans. As well as those who supported and trusted me with a role which has helped me progress as a cricketer and with stuff behind the scenes, John and Geoff in particular. I'd also like to thank Matt Savage for deputizing for me a couple of times this year when I had other commitments.

2012 was a landmark year for Eastcote, so massive congratulations to Will Dunn and the 3rds on finishing Champions, Phil Costard and the 2's on an unreal end to the year (hopefully can be part of a Championship run in 2013) and James Mans and the 4's on achieving promotion. Finally, just a quick mention about Eastcote's run in the Middlesex Cup, where we fell agonizingly short, losing to Hampstead in the semi's. As captain for the Quarter's and Semi's, I'd like to say well done to all involved. With 1-2 recognized first team players making themselves available for the competition it was testament to our teamwork that we achieved what we did in that competition. Got to mention that day at against Hornsey where, with their full first XI (minus Paul Weekes) and a Middlesex contracted player (with ODI experience, no less) we absolutely destroyed them with what was effectively our 2nd XI. As all involved will tell you, it was the best cricketing performance a lot of us had been involved in. Sorry I've rambled on for a while and you're probably bored by now, but as we all know, I'm never short of a word or two. Until next year. Up the Squirrels! Sam Moody. Academy Captain

Ladies XI Report 2012 The ladies team entered the North London Women’s League for the first time this year, and it was a very successful season in terms of enjoyment, if not in results. As it was our first year, I have a lot of people to thank on behalf of the team;

Firstly, Chris and his ground staff for the ground, particularly taking the time to go through how to set up the pitch. I’d also like to thank Minesh for his help on Sunday mornings.

The tea ladies and their assistants, for finding the time to fit in another team’s teas when they’re already so busy.

The committee, in particular John, Geoff, Paul and Gareth. Gareth has been coaching us since the end of the summer, and it’s made a big difference already so his help is very much appreciated. I’d also like to thank every-one else who has volunteered to help coach us this season, particularly Will Bramble and Adam Rossington.

Also everyone that gave up their time to score and umpire for us, particularly Mona, who scored many of our games this year.

Naturally, I also would like to thank the ladies on the team. As we are a development team there won’t be individual awards until next year. However, the dedication and commitment shown by the team has made my job much easier! Thank you for a fantastic season and well done. To finish I would like to reiterate that we are constantly on the look-out for new players to join our squad. This is imperative for a successful season next year, so please contact me or take a look at the website for further details. Vicky Stevens Ladies Captain

Colts Report 2012 Well, that was the worst season for weather in living memory. Snorkels and flippers were the order of the day as opposed to bat and ball! The incessant rain impacted on all our efforts to provide cricket, both on Friday nights and for our various league squads. Despite that, we did manage to get some cricket in and continue the good work of recent years. We ended the season with 293 colts, of which 134 were involved with our various age group squads. In addition, for the first time we ran a girls’ group, which we plan to expand for next season. At the time of writing our waiting list is once again full to the brim, currently standing at 111. As with previous seasons, we have had to take the regrettable decision to temporarily close this list given the weight of numbers and approximate two year wait. All of which bears testimony to the continued attraction and reputation of our colts set-up. That said, we have no reason to rest on our laurels and we must be mindful of the need to continually improve on what we already do. In this regard we have already started the planning process for 2013 and have in mind a number of changes which we believe will enhance our coaching offering. Friday nights at ECC saw the arrival of many keen boys and girls ready to learn and to enjoy themselves. Thanks to the sterling efforts of Steve Driscoll on the administration side, when the weather allowed we continued to satisfy their needs. Having said that, I must acknowledge that, at times, we were forced to rearrange groups. This regrettably was due to the non appearance of coaches and/or helpers. This undoubtedly caused inconvenience and for that I must apologise. Whilst remembering that we are fully reliant on volunteers and that work commitments do impact, nevertheless more commitment and better communication are required so that we can maintain our standards and reputation. My thanks go to all those who gave their valuable time to coach and help. Thanks also to Zara, Marilyn, John and Brenda plus all other volunteers on the catering front. Our gratitude also goes to Max our Bar Manager and Chris our groundsman. As usual, if we are to continue the excellent work of the past few years we do need much more help on all fronts, but particularly on the coaching side. I do hope that there are enough of you interested in assisting and would ask that you contact me accordingly - previous experience not necessarily required. Turning now to the various age group squads, 2012 has proved to be another good year, albeit falling a little short of the considerable heights reached during 2011. More detail can be found within the individual manager’s reports but I will give you a taster! We once again ran two sides at U10 with Minesh Patel taking charge of both. This man just never stops! His enthusiasm knows no bounds. If only we had ten more like him! Unfortunately the weather was the winner with the A side, denying them a deserved shot at The Gubby Allen Trophy. The progression of a number of boys to county level softened the blow to a degree and was just reward for the hard work of all involved.

We ran two sides at U11 for the first time in a few seasons and we are indebted to a number of people who helped run the sides during what was a difficult season off the field. My thanks go to Brian, Marc, Jag and Mandy for all their efforts. First and second place finishes respectively were a good achievement. Hemal Wijesuriya and David Goodchild took charge of the U13A team, with Path Rasan and Dipen Shah running the Bs. The Bs duly won their league and our A side finished second. The A’s progressed through to finals day but lost in the semi final to Hornsey. So near yet so far! They did, however achieve their usual success in the Indoor League. Phil Player and Tony Norris once again looked after the U15s and steered them to first place in the league. They also progressed well in the cups but lost out to Sunbury in both competitions. Injuries to key players undoubtedly hampered their efforts and they move on to the U17s next season confident of doing even better in 2013. The U17s were led this past season by a new double act, namely Ben Frais and Matt Savage. With a fixture list already depleted by lack of opposition teams entering the league they were hit more than most by the monsoon summer. However, they still managed to win their league, but their hopes of county progression were halted by a poor batting display at British Airways. The progression of boys to the senior sides is a key element to what we are trying to achieve at Eastcote and we continue to see evidence of significant success in this regard. Some boys excel while others begin to acquire valuable experience. Our challenge is to increase the numbers taking advantage of this opportunity for progression. Whilst instilling a winning habit at the colts’ level is important, developing future senior players is the ultimate goal. To this end there are numerous recent examples of our efforts bearing fruit and it is my wish that the boys of tomorrow look up to the likes of Aman Lotay, Charlie Hobday, George Horsley, Hassaan Mohamed and Jehan Jeffrie, to name but a few. They truly represent what we are all about. To summarise, we have enjoyed another good season thanks to the efforts of so many. As is always the case we cannot stand still. The future of our wonderful club is at stake and is greatly dependant on our continuing ability to produce the bulk of the next generation of league cricketers. Our job would be made much easier with more help and I will end with the usual plea for more parental and cricketer input. We really do need your help. Please let me know when and how you can assist. Winter well. Neil Stevens Colts Secretary

Colts Under 10 Report 2012 I am going to start by thanking Dipen for helping me throughout the last year to build a strong squad and I look forward to working together again with the U11s next year. I’d also like to thank Neil Stevens for his support and as always doing a good job as the Colt Manager. I would like to say a big thank you to Geoff Roan and Chris Wilkins for helping me with running the U10 games and during the training sessions. Another big thank you to all the mummies and daddies for supporting the boys each game and helping with the scoring, umpiring, teas and other duties. Similarly, next season for the U11s, games will be played on Monday evenings and we will require help during, but especially after the game so please continue contribute to the duties as the coaches would also like to enjoy the game but get home at a reasonable time. This has been a season of two halves, for the U10As unfortunately the weather and the league rules played a huge part in the deciding the league positions which meant we were unfairly denied the opportunity finish top and therefore represent the club in the semi-finals of the Gubby Allen even though we were by far the best side in the North Area. During this period with limited games and training opportunities it was proving to be very frustrating season for the players and parents as we had all put in a lot of hard work during the winter training. But like everyone else, we had to put this behind us and look forward to the remaining season. The second half of the season was much more productive and up to last week we have managed to play every Sunday and I am extremely proud of my U10A boys and congratulations on finishing the season with an unbeaten record. This achievement was reflected in the trophies that we won, at both the Harrow U10 Gala and Ickenham Festival. The final at Harrow Gala proved to be tense finish and my `go to player` Khizer Khan provided his team with a great victory with one ball remaining. The following day we defended the Ickenham Festival trophy where the U10As won the final in comprehensive fashion. To keep the momentum and prolong the season we had two fixtures against Harrow U11 which we won. Again, at this level it was about giving boys the chance to participate and enjoy the game; winning both the cups was a bonus. Some of the boys were fortunate to go on cricket tour and it proved to be a great experience. This year we had a very strong U10A squad and selection was always an issue but would like to say all boys were very competitive and played the game in the right sprit. To finish with the U10As, I would again like to congratulate boys who during the summer were selected to represent Middlesex County squads, these were: U11 – Rishi Wijeratne U10 – Jafer Chohan U9 – Akhil Sofat, Shalin Thanki, Krish Patwal

U10Bs also entered a league and again weather played its part this summer, the team were only able to play one of the five league games. We managed to play 5 friendlies, plus the boys were able to participate in few interclub games. The season highlight for the U10B was winning the plate final at the Ickenham Festival. As I enjoy coaching, and to extend opportunities for boys on Fridays nights to play matches, this year I arranged U8 games against Ealing, the boys and the parents enjoyed the experience (obviously we won both), and hopefully we will be able to continue with this next year. If there is anyone who would like to help with coaching U10Bs next year let me know. To end this report I would like to encourage the boys to keep practising during the winter and make it their goal to improve their skills and enjoy the game. Minesh Patel U10 Manager

Colts U11A Report 2012 Well, what can I say about this season? This has been by far the most controversial, confusing, and disappointing season that I have ever had at Eastcote Cricket Club off the field, but an extremely enjoyable and for the most part successful season on the field. It was very much a tale of two halves, and at some moments felt more like a soap opera than an U11 cricket season! So firstly, the cricket! The winter and pre season training went well and the team was looking strong. We introduced a new player to the team called Zack who joined us from Harrow St Marys, and he is an extremely talented all round cricketer. He gave us some real depth in our all round strength and definitely proved to be a huge asset. As per usual for this team the first few league games were handled well, and performances were strong. Brian and the boys set the standard for our oppositions to match, and it was clear that they just could not. The transition from U10 cricket to U11 cricket was handled smoothly and the boys adapted well. It was always going to be strange for them at times as, unlike the season before, not all the boys would be called upon to bowl or bat in every game as this was now 'proper cricket'. Unfortunately however, proceedings off the pitch were becoming more and more disjointed, and eventually began to have a negative impact on the cricket itself. An annual report is not the right time or place to go through what happened, but I will say the following. All coaches, managers, secretaries and most other positions at ECC are voluntary, and are carried out to benefit the boys and their futures in the game. The amount of time and effort put into running and coaching a team through a season is huge. No coach or manager is the same at our club, and we all have different techniques, but our goal is the same, to ensure that each boy under our supervision enjoys the game, learns from the game, and shows an improvement by the end of the season. We are truly blessed at Eastcote to have the number of qualified and dedicated coaches that we have. Without 'Us', the colts section would not be what it is today. I understand that at certain times of the season situations will arise that do not please 100% of everyone involved, but that's just cricket! I would never want to see a situation arise again as what was seen this year. If it was to do so, I would stop coaching all together. We need to remember that cricket is a game, and we are here to make sure the boys enjoy it! OK back to the cricket!

The second half of the season continued well, with strong performances against OMT's and a very good Harrow St Marys. Despite all the rain affected games we lost, we still remained unbeaten and finished top of the league! Well done boys! Our cup run was also going well, and we managed to progress to the regional final against Harrow St Marys. This was to be the first of our two battles! Although we started well taking two early wickets, our bowling deteriorated and line and length was becoming an issue! Wides and no balls were apparent most overs and HSM were able to post a very reasonable score of 116. This was definitely within the boys grasp however with a batting line up including Ross, Lucas, Zeeshan and one of the biggest engine rooms I have seen! HSM however had other things on their mind and bowled extremely well. Our batsmen began to panic a bit and little mistakes crept in. To be fair to our boys though, they have not been in this situation before as they are normally so dominant, so hopefully they can learn from these types of situations. Even after a very exciting cameo from Ethan, we ended up 7 runs short and unfortunately lost. The boys battled hard however and I was extremely proud of their conduct on and off the field. The second outing against HSM was practically a duplicate of the first! The positives however were an improved bowling performance and a much better batting performance, with a slightly weaker batting line up. The outcome however was the same, and again we came a close second to a very good HSM side. The fact that our only two losses this year were both finals shows how well the boys performed through the season, and they were a credit to Brian and myself, to the club, and to themselves. It has been fantastic working with this group for the last 3 years and I wish the boys who move up to the U13a team next season the best of luck! To the boys who will be with me in the U13b team next year............watch out! So, finally, to the players. At certain times this year every single member of this team performed fantastically. They all deserve a special mention, so please read on! Best batsmen – Lucas Golding Extremely solid opening batsmen, scored two half centuries in a row, and performed against some very good opening bowling attacks. His confidence is growing with every game when opening, and his technique is always improving. Always one of the first choices for opener in this team, which is a great achievement given the strength of the batting line up we have. Best bowler – Zack New to the team this year and has performed extremely well with both bat and ball. Close decision for this award between Zack, Jaffer, Kailum, Zeeshan and Sam, but for his bowling performance away to Harrow St Marys the award goes to Zack. He was simply unplayable for 4 overs, and even their ‘superstar Max’ was just bemused with the deliveries coming down to him.

Other mentions Ross - Very solid once again with the bat and fantastic behind the stumps. Ethan – Took a back stage with the ball this year, but rose to the challenge with the bat and scored his debut half century. Extremely powerful hitter of the ball, and put in a superb effort at home to HSM where he got us to within a few runs of their score. Kailen, Jonathon, Alex, Keesar and Kabir – All performed at times with the new ball and took vital early wickets and wickets at the death. Also all scored valuable runs in the closing stages of the innings which is vital when posting a good score. Harrison – Good bowling and batting performances at the start of the season and stepped into the role of captain when Ross wasn’t available. Sam, Zeeshan, Kailum, Jaffer – All four are excellent leg spinning all rounder’s who play a key part in this team, regularly used to stop the opposition scoring runs, and all contributed significantly through the season with the bat. Thanks to Brian for his efforts on and off the pitch over the last 2 years and the first half of this year, Minesh and Mandy for their assistance with availability and all of the admin work required to run a team, Phil Golding, Guy, Justin, Sanjay, Kailen’s Dad and everyone else who helped with scoring this year, it really is a team effort on and off the pitch. Marc Broom

Colts U11B Report 2012 This has been without a doubt one of the most enjoyable teams I have ever had the privilege to coach over the past few years. This team was put together with a few current squad members who had already played competitive cricket for Eastcote at U10 level, and with a few select boys who were all making their debuts for the club at a competitive level. I must be honest and say that before the first league game my plans for this team were to help them get a taste for league cricket in the 20/20 format and to develop the skills of the new boys so when they went to the U12/13 age groups they knew what to expect and what was expected of them. I didn't envisage them winning too many fixtures, but as this was to be a development season that wasn't at the top of my priorities! Looking at our league opponents, I was hoping for the boys to win a couple of games and compete in the rest, but to enjoy their cricket. They ended up losing a few games to rain, but in the matches they played, they only lost one, tied one, and won the rest. An amazing achievement boys, your coaches are very proud of you all! We were extremely lucky to have Varun step into the role of captain as he had already played numerous league games the two seasons before and was the most experienced player in the team. His leadership skills were even better than I could have wanted, and being captain had no negative effect on his performance, and he was clearly one of our best all-rounders this year. We then made Vinosh vice captain as his development over the winter had been superb and he was clearly emerging into an excellent opening batsmen, and myself and Jag felt the added responsibility of being vice captain would help his confidence grow. On the final game of the season he batted against Lohana's best bowling attack and played it with confidence and using superb technique. He is clearly a different cricketer than this time last year. It is for all these reasons that Vinosh gets the award for our most all round improved player of the year, well done Vinosh. With the U11 20/20 format being 11 aside instead of the 8 aside cricket the season before, we were able to turn fringe players from last year into regualar league performers this season. These players included Nikhil, Zaki, Krishan, George, Pranav and Shyam. The improvement in these boys from the end of last season to now is fantastic, and they should all be extremely proud of themselves. Nikhil, Pranav and Shyam are all now competent all-rounders who contributed heavily to our performances this year, Krishan is great character who always performed when asked to, and I would like to give a special mention to George who is one of the hardest working and gritty batsmen I have worked with. Over the winter months he developed from almost a non batsmen into part of our first choice opening pair with Vinosh. His dedication should be an example to the rest of the club. Now to our debutants!!!! We scouted 5 boys from the Friday night sessions this season. These included Chris, Ben, Jake, Nathan, Sam and one other who I will mention in a minute.

All these boys were brand new to league cricket at Eastcote and at times may have felt a bit daunted by the challenge, but their approach to training and to the games themselves was just outstanding! They mixed in with the A team boys during training and performed admirably, they listened to instructions and carried them out to the best of their abilities, and they helped our B team become more successful this season that I could have imagined. Chris is an exceptional fielder and can be a superb bowler, Ben shows a great talent as an all-round cricketer for Eastcote in the seasons to come, Nathan and Sam are both big strong boys who have both shown that they possibly should have been pulled from the Friday night training earlier as they can clearly play the game well, and Jake is going to be one of the best wicket keepers we will have at the club. His hands are superb, he naturally puts his head in the right position, has possibly the biggest mouth in the team, and is full of confidence which are all key skills required by good keepers. He also hits the ball a mile and I have good prospects for him. I only have two more players to mention. The first is Sebastian. What can I say about this boy? He talks all the time, eats crisps and chocolate during training, wants to bowl 18 different types of delivery each ball, and constantly asks me to bat in the nets. But, he gives this team 150% every single time, always turns up for games when asked, doesn't always get to bat or bowl in the games, and never moans, fields like a demon full of enthusiasm, encourages the entire team on the field, and even made his debut keeping wicket for the last game while being coached from the sideline by me! Without boys like Sebastian these teams cannot run and that is why he is going to be awarded the team player of the season for this year. Well done little Seb. The last player to be mentioned is also our batsmen of the season. He came into the side with a few games gone due to a bit of confusion as to where he was playing, but fortunately for us he played for the B team. He is still only 10 years old but it feels like he has been around forever. He immediately scored runs, top scoring each week, with a highest score of 78 not out. He is a fantastic batsman who will play at a very high level as he grows up. I know that his presence in the side filled the other boys with confidence each week which was vital for this team to succeed the way they did. If I am totally honest, he probably shouldn't have played at this level, but we are grateful he did! My batsman of the year award goes to Rishi. I would like to thank Jag for his efforts week in week out on match days, all of the parents who have had to score, umpire, ferry boys around etc, and a special thank you to Minesh who has had to help with training, games, boys, balls etc. You are a legend and should be knighted! I'm really looking forward to working with these boys again next year, train hard during the winter. Marc Broom U11A & B manager

Colts Under 13A Report 2012

The season can be best described as one of missed opportunities, and one where the team didn’t quite live up to the high expectations expected of them, failing to progress further than they did in the ECB National Cup competition or to qualify for the final of the County League championship. The team played a total of 19 matches outdoors, winning 16, and 11 matches indoors, winning 10, claiming the following titles along the way:

1) Indoor Area winner and County runner up 2) ECB National Cup Area winner and County semi finalist 3) League Area runner up (Division 1) and County semi finalist

In the Indoor League, the 13s entered the competition for the first time, and a series of strong performances saw them remain unbeaten to clinch North Area, progressing to County Finals Day, where having comfortably beaten Ealing, the team lost to Hornsey in a close final, by 3 wickets (Eastcote 117 for 6, Hornsey 119 for 4). In the outdoor season, Eastcote finished the League season with 50 points, securing second place in North Division 1 having suffered one defeat to Harrow St Mary’s in the season opener. The inclement weather resulted in a number of matches being cancelled and sharing of points between teams. The team responded to the initial setback against HSM by registering wins against Ickenham, Harefield, OMT, trouncing HSM in the return fixture and beating Stanmore C in a ‘play off’ qualifier, Winchmore Hill in R1, Primrose Hill in R2, and Wycombe House in the quarter final, reaching the semi final on Finals Day where a below par batting performance saw them lose to eventual champions Hornsey by 7 wickets (Eastcote 78, Hornsey 79 for 3). 2012 U13 North Area League Division 1

In the ECB National Cup, the inclement weather continued to cause havoc with the fixture schedule, with the first round decided on the outcome of the National Lottery Bonus Ball benefiting the away team on that occasion, which saw Eastcote make it through to the next round from where they strung a series of wins against Ickenham, Bessborough, Harrow St Mary’s, and an Area Final against West Harrow to clinch North Area only to see them lose in a low scoring match in the County semi final to Teddington by 5 wickets ( Eastcote 107 for 7, Teddington 111 for 5).

A number of boys continued to excel and were chosen to play representative cricket for the Borough, District or County: Omar Mohamed, Rahul Wijeratne, Ashane Wijesuriya, Aaran Amin and Hemanshu Hirani all retained their Middlesex County places in 2012 as well as Shaan Amin for Hertfordshire. Jonathan Barry, Amman Lakhani, Akshay Kothari and Jonathan Phillips all progressed via Borough Cricket to represent the County at District level. This year’s Club bowling award was presented to Amaan Lakhani and the corresponding batting award to Omar Mohamed. As has been customary over the years, individual achievement awards were also presented to the following: 1. Amaan Lakhani for his 6 for 16 versus Uxbridge CC (5-1-16-6) 2. Hemanshu Hirani for his Maiden Half Century against OMT 3. Shaan Amin for his Maiden Half Century against Uxbridge Eastcote U13: Rahul Wijeratne (captain), Omar Mohamed, Ashane Wijesuriya (w), Aaran Amin, Hemanshu Hirani, Shaan Amin, Jonathan Barry, Akshay Kothari, George Wickham , Alfie Fuller, Amaan Lakhani, Conrad Pinn, Jamie Cohen, George Smith , Jonathan Phillips. Hemal Wijesuriya and David Goodchild U13A Managers

Colts Under 13B Report This year’s U13B squad were yet another enthusiastic and determined bunch of boys. Typically B squads are not picked but inherited after the A squad has been picked. As such, the squad is not always balanced. This year, the B squad had a greater proportion of bowlers than batsmen. As with the previous year, at the start of the season a few principles had been laid out. We would go out to enjoy our cricket, seek to learn as much as we can and fight to win every match. There was a desire to give everyone a bat or a bowl in every match – an objective that was achieved without exception. The poor summer meant that out of the 30 matches that were scheduled (and rescheduled) only a total of 10 were completed. The shortened league season meant that every league match was like a need-to-win cup match. The U13Bs played four league matches this season and won all four thus becoming the Division 4 champions. The B teams in the North Area league were also part of a cup competition this year. Eastcote met Ickenham in what was a hard-fought final. With a fine display Eastcote triumphed to claim the cup. The U12s among the squad were also eligible to play in the Hillingdon Alliance. What is usually a season of five games had been reduced to just one due to the weather this year. Eastcote won the only match they played in this competition, beating Uxbridge convincingly. As champions of Division 4, the U13Bs qualified to take part in the County League play-off. In what is predominantly a Division 1 A team affair, the best a B team can hope to do is to cause an upset. Eastcote took on Harefield’s A team and the boys produced an excellent display pushing Harefield to the wire but eventually lost the match narrowly. In common with most Eastcote teams, the U13Bs had strength in depth – an invaluable asset. When the team found itself in difficult situations someone would always step up to save the side. There were many such unsung heroes in the side. The team showed strength of character in close games, winning most of them. Despite the dominance of the side, the boys showed humility in victory which was pleasing to see. When the squad suffered from lack of availability, boys from the U11 squad stepped up to help. These boys displayed excellent talent and also contributed meaningfully to the team’s success. The flow through from the Friday development squad to the team squad worked well too with two boys coming through this year and holding their own in the matches in which they played. There were several good performances out of which the significant ones are picked below. Best batting performances were from Tom Bannon: 72 & 46, Thomas Hudson: 63 & a few 20s, Thomas Goulde: 55, Danesh Rasan: 42 and 42 N.O, Saavan Shah: 41 and Lucas Golding: 38 N.O. The Best bowling performances were Divyam Arya: 3 for 13, Thomas Gould: 3 for 14 and Saavan Shah: 4 for 5 and 4 for 11. Best performances are also a function of opportunity.

There were many other good players in the side who are bound to shine as they progress through the ranks. The Team Player of the Year was awarded to Thomas Hudson for scoring 208 runs for the season with most, if not all of them, in double quick time. He also showed commitment throughout the season making himself available for almost all of the games. The Best All Rounder award went to Saavan Shah who scored 203 runs at an average of 41 and took 11 wickets for 57 runs. He was also a keen fielder, an enthusiastic member of the team and displayed a good attitude – everything you want a colt to be. We would like to thank Chris Wilkins for accommodating the matches through the season, Geoff Roan for facilitating the arranging and re-arranging of fixtures and Neil Stevens for providing the overarching framework to enable us to accomplish what turned out to be a very successful season. Path Rasan and Dipen Shah Under 13B Managers

Colts Under 15 Report In preparation for the forthcoming season, we again started together in January with winter indoor coaching sessions and by the beginning of the season in April we knew that we had a talented squad of boys, who had tremendous potential. They all played with an excellent team spirit and enabled us to play a total of 16 matches winning 13 resulting in us winning both the North Area league and cup. Our records show we had a further 10 matches cancelled or abandoned so that really shows what a difficult season it was for all our teams. This season, not only were we hampered by the weather, we also had 5 boys strapped up or in plaster with various breaks of bones for a large part of the season. This shows the importance of having a large, talented squad. We competed very well during the league season playing in what is recognised to be the strongest area within the County and after losing only one match during the campaign, we finished as league champions, an excellent achievement. This enabled us to progress through to the County league knock-out and we were drawn away against Sunbury. Another consequence of the weather was that Sunbury had hardly played any league games and despite being the strongest team in the West Area, only ended up as runners-up rather than winners and hence became our opponents. After a fine bowling and fielding performance where we restricted them to 112, we then had a very rare bad day with the bat and finished short of their target. In the Cup we battled through the wet weather in the early rounds, winning against Harefield and Stanmore, both away from home, and these wins saw us progress to a semi-final away against Hayes where we were victorious by ten wickets, setting up a final against Ickenham. We batted first, scoring 160 for 3 and then restricted Ickenham to 107 in reply, winning the final by an impressive 57 run margin, again a fine achievement by the whole side. After winning the North Area Cup we were again drawn away to Sunbury and although we competed well on the day, they once again proved too strong for us and we were knocked out, thus losing to the eventual County Champions. There have been a number of notable achievements throughout the season and we would like to continue the tradition of commemorating the boys first 50’s or five wicket hauls for Eastcote and this year there were two such events. On 17th June scoring 50 not out v Amersham Academy – Krishan Shah. On 20th August scoring his first 50, actually 66 not out, v Hainault & Chigwell – Aaron Phillips. Following this confidence boost for him, he then went on to score his first senior 50, so congratulations to Aaron. As always, it has been very difficult to pick out individuals for batting and bowling awards due to the high level of performances by all members of the squad.

In relation to the batting, in such a difficult season, there were solid performances from Tom Player 223 runs and initially Armaan Mahmood 263 runs, who was so sorely missed due to his accident. After studying the statistics for the season, the ‘Batsman of the Year’ Award 2012 goes to a player who totalled 500 runs and averaged 55, Aman Lotay. The bowling performances were also impressive, with a number of boys bowling really well throughout the season. Special mention must go to 3 of the younger boys, Jay, Dominic and Shezad who were selected and represented the U14 borough side in the new County initiative and actually helped them to win the overall competition for the borough. Further mention must go to Michael Norris who took 16 wickets and Kishan Radia with 11 wickets along with sterling support from Aman Lotay who in addition captained the side so well. Our second award this season we decided would encompass all the attributes that we would hope that the boys would aspire to in playing for Eastcote and that coaches value so highly, namely –

- Tremendous enthusiasm when playing - Great attendance at training nights - A desire to truly become the best all round player he can be - Always trying to be available to play for the Club and putting the team first,

before him-self, in whatever role was asked of him. The winner of this year’s Special Coaches award goes to Aaron Phillips. We are really pleased to see all of the boys within the squad progressing so well and to see them playing at County and the Borough Level in colts cricket, as well as in all levels for Eastcote in senior league cricket. When we started coaching these boys some 8 years ago it was hard to believe that they would one day be good enough to represent the Club at senior level and this perhaps is our greatest sense of satisfaction and pride as coaches. Finally, we would like to thank and acknowledge the support of Minesh for all his help and enthusiasm throughout this and every season, we couldn’t do it without you. Lily Lotay has again been brilliant with the scoring duties during the season and we thank you so very much. Thank you also to the parents who so willingly help at the drop of a hat to pick up someone or to make their sons available at short notice and who help with the ground duties on match days. Phil Player and Tony Norris Under 15 Managers

Colts Under 17 Report The U17’s, led this year by the astute George Horsely, fell just short of repeating the success of the previous year which is a considerable achievement given the quality of the squad which departed from this age group. Weather played a huge part in affecting our season yet compared to other teams playing 3 league matches was a success! Our 2 wins against Ickenham and Stanmore were very much team efforts. Aman Lotay stood out against Stanmore with the bat (38) and against Ickenham with the ball (4-2-2-0). Miraj Patel also contributed healthily with bat and ball in the few games this year. Joe Daver, Lawrence Pinn, Anthony Leonard and Harry Keen all made excellent strides with the ball in their hand and hopefully will all be regulars in senior cricket next year. In the end, a poor batting display led to our downfall in the quarter final against British Airways. Our excellent bowling, led by U15’s, Mikey Norris and Vikesh Patel reduced the home side to 48-9, yet somehow the team from Hounslow got up to 94 all out. Our batting relied heavily on our talented top four, however bad shot selection caused a disappointing defeat in the end. Hopefully the weather will allow more cricket to be played next season with another talented group of Eastcote youngsters coming up. Thanks must go to all the parents for shipping their children to matches as well as the Lotay’s and Hobday’s for helping the often unorganised manager! Ben Frais Under 17 Manager

EASTCOTE CRICKET CLUB

ACCOUNTS AND NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th SEPTEMBER 2012

EASTCOTE CRICKET CLUB

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30th SEPTEMBER 2012

2012 2011

£ £ £ £

Fixed Assets

Tangible Assets 40,074 38,734

Current Assets

Stock

Bar 5,202 4,481

Equipment & Others 600 600

Sundry Debtors & Prepayments 2,611 360

Cash at Bank and in hand 48,623 50,221

Investment - Barclays PLC 446 335

57,481 55,997

Current Liabilities

Accrued charges and deferred income (19,891) (20,027)

Net Current Assets 37,590 35,970

77,664 74,704

Accumulated Fund

Balance as at 1 October 2011 74,704 72,295

Surplus/(Deficit) for the year 2,959 2,409

0

77,664 74,704

Treasurer: S.Dunn

17th November 2012

FIXED ASSETS

As at: 30 Sept.'12

£ £ £ £

Total Land Building Machinery

Equipment

Cost as at: 1 Oct. '11 163,726 20,200 71,964 71,562

Additions 5,222 5,222

Balance as at: 30 Sept. '12 168,948 20,200 71,964 76,784

Depreciation as at: 1 Oct. '11 124,992 2,940 71,963 50,089

Charges for the year 3,882 735 3,147

Accumulated Depreciation &

Amortisation 30/9/2012 128,874 3,675 71,963 53,236

Net Value 30 Sept. '12 40,074 16,525 1 23,548

Net Value 30 Sept. '11 38,734 17,260 1 21,473

I have examined the above Balance Sheet as at 30th September 2012 and annexed

Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended on that date, and in my

opinion they are in accordance with the books of Eastcote Cricket Club and the

information supplied to me.

9 Wieland Road

Northwood HA6 3RD

17th November 2012 J M WILLIAMS - CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT

AUDITOR'S REPORT

EASTCOTE CRICKET CLUB

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED

30th SEPTEMBER 2012

2012 2011

Notes £ £ £ £

INCOME

Subscriptions 32,185 28,772

Bar profit 1 37,522 39,815

Pool & Football table 592 675

Donations/Sponsorship 2,512 4,650

Bank Deposit Interest 9 12

Social, catering & functions 4,973 2,116

Ground, Pavilion & Nets Hire 1,808 1,600

Dividends on Investment 12 14

Sundry Receipts 1,122 80,735 0 77,654

EXPENDITURE

Rates & Water 4,001 2,489

Insurance 5,484 4,825

Pavilion expenses 2 21,226 19,795

Ground/Equipment Maintenance 3 31,276 30,804

Telephone 257 229

Printing & Stationery 1,196 1,180

Admin Sundry expenses 0 153

Umpires 525 560

Cricket balls / Equipment / Kit 2,850 2,991

Stocktaking fees 465 460

Subscriptions and fees 1,674 1,169

Bank charges 813 600

Coaching course & Coaching fees 4,484 5,946

Donations 495 380

Website 75 193

Trophies and Cups 133 (74,954) 654 (72,429)

EXCESS/(DEFICIT) OF INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE 5,781 5,225

APPROPRIATIONS

Depreciation and Amortisation (3,882) (3,348)

Change in value of investments 111 (416)

Grant received from ECB (10% pa for 10 years) 948 948

TRANSFER TO ACCUMULATED FUNDS 2,959 2,409

EASTCOTE CRICKET CLUB

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th SEPTEMBER 2012

2012 2011

Notes £ £ £ £

BAR TRADING ACCOUNT 1

Bar Sales 108,132 109,549

Less: Cost of Sales

Opening Stock 4,481 5,156

Purchases 55,416 54,939

59,897 60,095

Closing Stock (5,202) (54,695) (4,481) (55,614)

Gross profit for the year 53,437 53,935

Bar Assistance (15,915) (14,120)

Net profit for the year 37,522 39,815

Gross profit on turnover 49.42% 49.23%

Net profit on turnover 34.70% 36.34%

PAVILION EXPENSES 2

Cleaning & cleaning materials 7,668 6,836

Gas & Electricity 2,647 3,248

Repairs & Renewals 8,111 6,220

Sky TV 1,742 1,977

Security 649 713

Sundries 410 801

21,226 19,795

GROUND AND EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

3

Groundsmen charges 17,695 18,187

Soil seed, loam and fertiliser 3,242 2,152

Sightscreen, covers, nets & bowling m/c 252 2,820

Hire of Plant and machinery 433 0

Mower repairs, fuel and tools 2,879 1,411

Professional and course fees 3,255 2,180

Shed repairs and scoreboards 2,269 3,917

Sundries 1,250 137

31,276 30,804