Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2017

39 Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk 4 overs for just 19 runs and picking up 2 vital wickets. Despite 25 off 12 balls from Sleaford’s number 8 we managed to hold on to win by 4 runs. In the North Area final we played Sandiacre and were asked to bat first. Danny Walton continued his good form with 47, and Billy Root showed why he is on Nottinghamshire’s books with a fine 60 off 37 deliveries. We finished on 182 – 5. Sandiacre opened the bating with ex Derbyshire pro Dan Birch so when Alex Varley picked him up early on for just 5 we knew that was a huge wicket. The fall of Birch meant that Gareth Curtis came to the crease and he batted superbly keeping his team in the game even with wickets falling at the other end. Matt Dixon again bowled superbly going for just 17 in his 4 overs. However going into the last over Sandiacre need 22 to win. Curtis continued his fine form hitting the ball with incredible power over point and cover meaning that Sandiacre needed 4 off the final ball of the game. A big swing, an outside edge, and the ball flying away for four sent the Sandiacre crowd into raptures and left our boys gutted. Despite the agony of losing the way we did it is the furthest we have been in the competition ever and we were only 2 games away from the last 4 in the Country, the National Final. It was a fabulous achievement and of the 12 players in the squad on the day 9 have come up through the ranks at Collegiate making the achievement all the better. Our other men’s sides all had decent seasons with the 2nd XI keeping their Championship level status when they were the only 2nd XI in the division. The 3rds, 4ths and 5ths were all also able to retain their status in the divisions they started in. Our Sunday XI finished 2nd gaining promotion, and our Midweek XI won the league for the second time in three seasons. We also had some fantastic individual moments during the season with the Sunday XI giving debuts to 11 year old Harvey Rowntree, 12 year old Isaac Parkin, and 13 year old Luke Whittington all of whom took 4 wickets in an innings over the course of the season. Our 5th team also gave debuts to two girls this year, with Grace Middleton becoming the first girl to ever play adult cricket at Sheffield Collegiate. Grace, a Derbyshire girl’s player, was swiftly followed in to adult cricket by Imogen Cooper. A fantastic achievement by both girls and hopefully the first of many girls and ladies to play for SCCC. We also have a number of girls playing in junior age group cricket including Charlotte Middleton, Grace’s sister, whose alliance is with the White Rose County in a family split as she plays for Yorkshire Girls U13s. One of our junior sides also made history with an unprecedented double ‘double’ retaining both the league and cup trophy. Our under 18 team have been fantastic this season and the Paramore cup win was a perfect end to the season for them. Brad Jones hit a brutal 98* to set up a massive total which proved too much for our opponents. Our U13 cup side also reached the Yorkshire Final of the National Cup Competition. We also have one junior in particular who has made a real impression in the county set up this year. Tate Miller has been picked for Yorkshire under 11s and has been on tour with them this summer. He showed his prowess as a young batsman scoring 2 50’s including a career best 85. A real star for the future and definitely one to watch. Like Tate we have one club member who started off with Yorkshire under 11’s and he has gone from strength to strength to now been one of the best batsman in the world. Of course I am talking about Joe Root. He has enjoyed another great year with the National side and as ever all at SCCC are very proud of what he is achieving. As the days become shorter and winter gets ever closer we are all already looking forward to the start of the 2017 season where we hope for more success for all of our teams, more debuts for our young juniors in adult cricket, more girls playing for SCCC, and hopefully more sunshine!