Alliance Midweek Cricket League Handbook 2014

24 Premier Division At last! A summer of sunshine for a change! However what was immutable was the con7nuing dominance of the all-powerful A8ock. They secured a third consecu7ve League 7tle with compara7ve ease, securing the 7tle by the penul7mate round. As befits a side named for that mighty fortress on the Indus, Jaco Castle dominated once again, over 400 runs and 10 wickets being his telling contribu7on. Khan finished a worthy second, winning 8 games but, crucially losing 4 to A8ock’s single loss. The flashing blade of Sheffield Friends Jhonny Younis smote 450 runs at over 64 with 6 50s, whilst the leading wicket taker was Collegiate’s Josh Varley, who snaffled 21 wickets at a sniff over 13 apiece. Both teams promoted to the Premier Division in 2012, TOA and Hollinsend, were unable to stay in the top flight for more than the one summer. TOA needed to win their last 2 games to survive, but that vital penul7mate fixture was lost to the rain and relega7on ensued. Hollinsend struggled, but struggled manfully, playing mostly a young, talented, but inexperienced side all summer. They gained some considerable sa7sfac7on in pushing the opposi7on hard in most matches. Final Table P W L T C lc wc pe Pts A8ock CC ..............................................14 9 1 0 4 0 0 0 31 Khan CC ................................................14 8 4 0 2 0 0 0 26 Darnall CC .............................................14 7 4 0 3 0 0 0 24 Sheffield Waterworks CC ......................14 6 4 0 4 0 0 0 22 Sheffield Collegiate CC..........................14 5 5 1 3 0 0 0 20 Sheffield Friends CC ..............................14 3 6 1 4 0 0 0 15 TOA CC..................................................14 3 7 0 4 0 0 0 13 Hollinsend Methodist CC .....................14 1 11 0 2 0 0 0 5 Ba2ng Award - Jaco Castle (A8ock) 7 innings, 418 runs, ave 102.00 Bowling Award - Josh Varley (Sheff Collegiate) 21 wkts, 277 runs,ave 13.19 Division A The fight for the 7tle was a two horse race pre8y much all summer, indeed no other team mounted a sustained challenge to the supremacy of champions Kashmir and runners-up Al-Mahdi. Kashmir won 12 from 14 games, for whom both Nabeel Abdul and Naseer Nahim scored 350 runs. Add on Khurram Javed’s almost 300 runs and Zabe Javed returning the best bowling figures in the en7re league – 6-13 against nearest rivals Al-Mahdi, then you have the reasons why Kashmir romped to the 7tle. Meersbrook finished a very credible third, thanks to a remarkable second half of the season, moving from danger of relega7on to top half of the table. For Al-Mahdi, Tahir Nawaz hit an undefeated 106 – the highest individual innings for the season. Medium pacer Chris Turner took 20 wickets at an average of under 10 apiece for the Meersbrook men. At the foot of the table, Abbeydale struggled all summer and finished adri' at the bo8om, but above them the was a right royal scrap. Amazingly three teams – Nether Edge, Frecheville and Outokumpo all finished on 17 points with iden7cal win/loss figures. However, it was Outokumpo who were relegated on run-rate. Par7cularly hard on them as they finished just 3 points – equal to one more win – behind Meersbrook in third spot. On such small ma8ers does the world turn. Final Table P W L T C lc wc pe Pts Kashmir CC............................................14 10 2 0 2 0 0 0 32 Al Mahdi XI CC ......................................14 6 4 0 2 0 0 0 26 Meersbrook CC .....................................14 6 6 0 2 0 0 0 20 Caribbean Sports CC .............................14 5 6 0 3 0 0 0 18 Frecheville Community CC....................14 5 7 0 2 0 0 0 17 Outokumpo Stainless CC.......................14 5 7 0 2 0 0 0 17 Abbeydale CC........................................14 3 8 0 3 0 0 2 10 Ba2ng Award - Thomas Powell (Frecheville Community) 9 inns, 259 runs, ave 51.80 Bowling Award - Chris Turner (Meersbrook) 20 wkts, 196 runs, ave 9.80 2013 Review and Tables