The Twelfth Man 2011

20 bowling. He bowls left-arm leg-spin and can get the ball to turn and bite off the surface. This has proved a real handful at times for the batsmen. However to become more threatening as a bowler, he needs to work on pitching the ball outside the off-stump more consistently to right-handers by standing taller at the crease and not falling away during his delivery stride. When batting he always plays straight, he comes forward on his front foot and times the ball well. He often gets a little frustrated when he misses the ball but as he gets older he will learn to play every ball on its merit. As long as he keeps playing with a straight bat the winner of the award could become a superb all-rounder and is one to watch for the future. The winner is Harry Sykes Sam’s Net – The Brian Johnston Award I have enjoyed the cricket in my net this year I have enjoyed every minute of the coaching and choosing a winner has been the most difficult decision I have had to make in years, therefore I have two runners up. My first runner up is almost a veteran at the nets, which is surprising as he can’t be older than 12 years old. For his age and size he bowls with enough pace to trouble most and he bats with flair (sometimes too much flair). Every year we meet I am keen to see how he has developed his game. I hope that he can maintain the positive attitude to sport he started with, seemingly 40 years ago. For those who have not guessed the1st runner up of the Brian Johnson award is the irrepressible Mathew Marsh . My second runner up approaches the game with enthusiasm and ability with both the bat and ball. He has the ability to swig the ball late and is capable of striking the ball well using technique as much as raw power to time the ball away. If he continues to develop as he has started I am sure he will be amongst the wickets in most if not all games and as an all round player will be an asset to the captain of any team. My second runner up is Ashley Potter The winner this year is a player who started with an amazing talent but is still the one who I feel has developed the most. At the start of the nets he tended to bowl too short and although he generates a vast amount of speed and bounce on the hard surface in the hall he will find this a different game when playing on wet soft wickets outside. Taking this on board, he has developed his control of the ball to the point that he could pick the length he was going to ball and then hit it with pace With the bat he plays correctly and has a good range of shots again using timing to get the ball away. One thing to work on is that he does have a tendency to get out to the spinners at times and needs to learn where his leg stump is. But that will surely come with time. The winner is Jacob Hatfield John’s Net – The Colleen Morley Award The least liked job of being a coach is deciding the award winners as all the lads in the hall have really tried to take on board what the coaches have asked them to do. Looking to my net once again not an easy decision but my award winners are as follows. This young lad has given 100% effort in his first year at the Society nets and has tried to practice all that I have asked him to do. With time his batting will improve he has a good stance but he must learn to move his feet and get into position to play his strokes. He is a right arm medium pace bowler with a good action and tries to ball line and length. The runner up is Dominic Crossland This youngster is the quite one he has the makings of an all-rounder he just concentrates and gets on with trying to put into practice with what he as been asked to do. His batting and bowling has improved greatly since the first session and will develop as he gets older and stronger. The winner is Alex Scanlan Mark’s Net – The Eric Sykes Award The runner-up of this award is a great young player who has shown excellent commitment throughout the ten- week period at his first time at the Society nets. He has had a good attendance and is always showing a will to learn more skills. He is a right hand middle order batsmen who has shown a good positive body language when playing strokes and has a good shot selection. He is a right-arm medium pace bowler and from week one to ten has shown he can bowl a good line and length, even if he bowls the occasional bad ball he picks his head up and gets back on the spot. I wish him good luck for this season and hope to see him at the nets in the future to come. The runner up is Callum Zverdloff The winner is a young player who has shown a great attitude from week one, he has given 110% every net session and is always trying to improve himself, he has got on well with the other lads in the group and shown he can be a team player. He is a left-arm off spin bowler who is not afraid to experiment with his bowling abilities, I can see he will cause a lot of problems for batsmen through the season with his spin bowling, following the good bowling he has also shown great batting skills he is sure to become a good top order batsmen due to the shot selection throughout the nets from a forward defensive to a great aggres-sive drive. I wish him good luck for the season to come and hope to see him next year The winner is Jack Hulley