Brigstock Cricket Club

BRIGSTOCK CC - 2003 SOME Saturday HIGHLIGHTS

Brigstock secured their 3^rd successive promotion in Saturday cricket and their 2 all rounders Nigel Shiells and Trevor Erskine were at the heart of this.

Shiells topped the batting averages with 543 runs at 36 with 2 centuries and a top score of 124*.His opening bowling contribution was very valuable taking 43 wickets at 12 . His metronomic accuracy saw him concede only 2.3 runs per over and by the time he finished his spell pressure had been exerted on the opposition and the change bowlers were able to cash in. He had a best analysis of 13-9-7-7.

Back Row (left to right) Alan Bamford, Brian Bamford, Pete Burdett, Robin Beard, John Udall, Nigel Shiells.

Front Row (left to right) Bernie Mayes, Nick Jolley, Ian Sharp, Rory Finlay Notman, Trevor Erskine.

Brigstock are far from being a 2 man team and the other bowlers who shone were:

Robin Beard 24 wickets at 13 with a best of 9.4-3-17-6, Helen Pugh 22 wickets at 12.3 with a best of 14-6-22-4 and Rory Finlay Notman 21 wickets at only 7.01 with a best of 12-6-9-4 completing a fine all round team effort in the field

Erskine was only narrowly pipped in the batting stakes but he had the highest run aggregate with 552 runs at 32 and a top score of 105. His delayed arrival from Antigua meant he missed the first 3 matches but he still topped the bowling averages with 53 wickets at only 7.68.to complete a ' mini double' on Saturdays. Erskine' s strike rate was a wicket every 4 overs and he was very accurate conceding only 1.95 per over. It was this bowling form ( with the other 4 bowlers ) which enabled skipper Ian Sharp to gamble on batting first in the search for maximum points.

Erskine also had a very productive season in Division 3 of the Rutland League on Sundays. With a staggering 882 runs in 18 innings for an average of 58.8 and a top score of 144* Erskine scored 1434 runs in weekend cricket.

But what about the bowling ? Well it wasn't his fault that he didn't secure 100 wickets in weekend cricket. The 2 Brigstock captains had the luxury of giving him only 4 overs in his last 3 matches as other bowlers produced the goods. On Sundays Erskine took 43 wickets at 11.07 for an aggregate of 96 weekend wickets. He had the personal satisfaction that his wickets on Wednesdays in Div 1 of the GML took him comfortably past 100 for a well deserved double.

And the other batsmen? Many got runs when needed. John Udall 214 runs at 21 with a top score of 59. Alan Bamford coming in at 6 or 7 scored 181 runs at 20 and this was his best season for some years.

Finally Saturday skipper Ian Sharp also did a fine job opening with Erskine and managed 325 runs despite not scoring a 50 ( top 45 average 19) but he rarely failed . Batting with more freedom on Sundays he scored 787 runs at 52 with a top score of 121*. He became the second Brigstock batsmen to top 1000 runs .

ALAN BAMFORD