Tis The Season To Be Jolly
A famous sports coach once said 'Success should never be measured against the ideal. Instead, measure success as the difference between where you are now, and where you started'. A line which should be emblazoned across the shirts of Newenden Cricket Club, for over the past ten years we have taken a club on the brink of extinction to cementing our place as one of the finest village sides in the county.
There is no better example of how far we have come than our disappointment at finishing second in the top division of the league this year. To any other side, that would be deemed to be a superb achievement, but we have become so accustomed to success that anything else is deemed to be failure. This is where we need to have a little perspective. As painful as it was, we finished on the same points as the eventual winners, who are a massive club, who run five teams, and play at the top of the Kent League on a Saturday. In theory it is a total mismatch, but we could only be separated by the very finest of margins, as we lost out on net run rate.I could not be prouder of what the team has achieved and only a brave man would bet against us taking that final step next season, as the only true barometer of success is how you bounce back from failure.
ADDING TO THE TROPHY CABINET
The club has enjoyed considerable success as well this season. We retained our Wealden Wallop title, the local T20 competition, lifting the trophy with an emphatic win over Northiam in the final, which was held at Tenterden's beautiful ground in July. We also managed to secure the coveted Newenden Sixes trophy. This year's tournament was the most competitive yet, with five top sides taking to the field. It was very satisfying to see both the Newenden teams make it to the final, with the Newenden league side coming out on top against last year's winners, Charlie's Angels.
EVENTS
The club hosted some brilliant events this year. We all enjoyed a wonderful day at Winston's match, a game played in the memory of former club stalwart Winston Cuthbert. It saw well over hundred people at the NCG with a Newenden side taking on Tim Piper's eleven, made up of old school friends and a few NCC alumni. It was a real celebration, one which we certainly intend to replicate next year, we also raised over £1400.00 for the Sam West Foundation.
We never thought that an England international would turn out for the club but we were lucky enough to have two this year, when Devon Malcolm and Monty Panesar played in our Chairman's Day match in July. It was a superb day out, though not for Monty as he was deposited into the river on several occasions. We also managed to raise £400 for Cancer Research.
The annual Overs/Unders game was another close fought affair, this time with the youngsters coming out on top. It is now 2-2 in the series, can't wait for us old boys to regain the lead next year.
The Newenden Sixes was a great success, some may say the best yet, as five teams took to the field for a highly competitive tournament. It is fast becoming one of the high points of the calendar. I would like to make a special mention to Alex Balfour for providing the music on the day, he did a phenomenal job keeping the atmosphere at peak levels. We also raised over £600 for the club in the process.
Trev's Big Bash was a brilliant day out towards the end of the season, with Newenden pipping my old Biddenden side in a thriller. We raised £700 for the local hospice too.
We were lucky enough to host our annual awards dinner in March and it was a great evening enjoyed by one and all. We raised nearly £5K from the evening which is so important for a club of our size. We hope to see a record number of attendees at next year's event, I will be circulating the date shortly.
TEAS
I cannot write a season overview without mention of the teas, which have been truly memorable this year. We have had so many wonderful teas laid on, I cannot mention them all.
Everyone has done brilliantly, with the level of effort going into these being truly unbelievable, so much so that they have started to become a bit of a social media sensation. Thank you to everyone that made our teas so special this year. The Tea Trophy winner is going to be a tough call.
ON THE FIELD
As our reputation grows as does our playing membership. We fielded the most players in a season ever this year, which bodes very well for the future. Next season we will be entering a second team into the league which will enable us to focus on bringing more juniors into the fold, which can only strengthen the club further. As the team's achievements continue to go from strength to strength so do our individual performances. There were so many superb efforts that I do not have space to list them all.
Batting performances have been down on previous years, but the leading run scorer across the Sunday league and friendly games was Mike Parr with 299, closely followed by Ben Browning on 258 and Dan Edwards on 227.
Three centuries were scored this year by Dan Edwards, Mike Parr and Jack Greig, who had a great first season with the club.
The bowling cup saw a change of hands, with Harry Bradney bagging up the trophy with an impressive 24 wickets, which saw him finish joint top of the Division 1 bowling charts, he was closely followed by Garry Smith (21) and Dan Edwards (19).
There were three 5-wicket hauls collected by Dan Edwards, Mike Bellhouse and Ian Jones, all in the league.
The fielding has been exceptional this season, with some brilliant catches being taken. Ben Browning and Mike Parr leading the way with 8 a piece, and the evergreen Charlie Sloan continuing to be incredible behind the stumps. He has been key to so much of the club's success.
THANK YOU
I would like to thank all those that have worked so hard to make the club such a success.
Firstly, we would like to thank Guy Rummery for his superb work down at the ground. Every week the NCG looks absolutely immaculate, how he does is it a mystery. The ground is under water throughout the winter and he transforms her into one of the best places to play cricket in the country. It is so good to hear opposition sides saying what a wonderful ground we have, it makes us all very proud. Thank you Guy. I would also like to thank our umpires, who have done a terrific job this year. Mick Browning and Giles Moffatt have been brilliant all season, exuding a calm authority, sometimes under intense pressure. Special mention must also go to Mike Kutner and Martin Norris for stepping in to help out.
I cannot write a season overview without mentioning budding club legend, Sophie James. Sophie has taken on scoring duties for the past couple of seasons, which is a thankless task, but she has been wonderful this year and brings a little ray of sunshine with her to every game.
I must also acknowledge Garry Smith, who does so much behind the scenes, he is a true clubman. This season we have hosted more big events than ever before and he is more than happy to don the apron and slave over a hot BBQ for hours to make sure we are all fed. Still maintain his burgers are the best this side of the Rother.
Finally I would like to say a couple of farewells to two of our committee. Ingrid Nilson, has been the club secretary for nearly decade, and has been exceptional in her role. It is no mean feat keeping the rest of us under control. Ingrid always brought a calmness and logic to proceedings that will be sorely missed. We wish her and Ake all the very best on their new Dorset adventure.
We also will be saying goodbye to Patch Boland this year after three significant years as club treasurer. Patch has been instrumental in transforming the finances of the club. He has introduced a cashless system which makes everything so much easier to manage. He has also put up with the countless early morning messages from yours truly for which I admire his patience. It is a sad to lose Patch, but we wish him well as his work takes him overseas. So that is it for 2023, it is a season that will live long in the memory, with so many wonderful days enjoyed together down at the NCG. Roll on 2024.