Danish Cricket Yearbook 2017

tional senior and underage teams throughout the year. If Skanderborg can get the supremely talented Kamran Mahmood back on the park for a full season and a fit Michael Pedersen then I am sure they will be right back in the mix. Svanholm will be delighted to have snatched the league from the final ball of the tournament. It just goes to show it’s never over until the fat lady sings!! And if you keep hanging in there and never give up, then good things happen. There batting was very well led by Saif Ahmad and Zishan Shah. Both players contributing heavily to Svanholm’s scoring tally’s. Saif is without doubt one of if not the most gifted ball strikers in the country and will look to transfer the form he showed this year onto bigger and better things for both Denmark and Svanholm. The bowling was ever reliable with a good mix of spin and pace. However the surprise packet was Saad Ahmad who changed from a very handy medium pacer to bowling off spin. Saad got no fewer than 16 wickets which saw him as the leading spin bowler in the elite division. Svanholm to me look like the team to beat over the next decade con- sidering the abundance of excellent young talent coming through the ranks. Abdullah Mahmood was one of these exciting youngsters to keep an eye out for. Nørrebro one would say would be happy with their sea- son to be able to stay in the top flight. Kamran Ajaz was there most consistent performer with the bat passing the 50 mark on a good few occasions and regularly got the batting off to a good start. However that’s where it really started and ended as far as Nørrebro’s batting went. They are a much better bowling outfit and if they can improve their batting strength and depth then they will no doubt be a much tougher team to beat. Performances of note throughout the season would be Saif Ahmad getting two centuries and leading run scorer in the elite. Zishan Shah showed excellent form with the bat es- pecially at the backend of the season where points were vital. Saad Ahmad was a revelation with his spin bowling. Kamran Ajaz fought a lone battle with the bat for Nørre- bro. Frederik Klokker although not at his belligerent best, but still averaged close to 50 and along with Michael Ped- ersen were the mainstays for Skanderborg when it came to runs-coring. Nicolaj Damgaard and Jeppe Gai for Hern- ing CC both were amongst the leading wicket takers and are biting at the heels of Denmark legend Bashir Shah for a place in the national side as left arm spinning options. Delawar Kahn was the real hero for Ishøj. He consistently was dangerous with the ball and made telling contribu- tions runs with the bat, a real player for the future once he is Danish qualified. KB have many match win- ners in their side, but will be disappointed that with the bat no one really domi- nated on a consistent basis. Congratulations to Svan- holm CC who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and with a new champion will bring a lot of excitement to the elite next year as a hurt KB will no doubt look to get the gold medal back. AB med en af de sjældne opmuntringer i sæsonen Formand Umair Butt overrækker pokalen til Svanholms anfører Zishan Shah Danmarksmester 2017 Svanholm Cricketklub I 5 I DANSK CRICKET ÅRSSKRIFT 20 17