The Twelfth Man 2013

19 Brian Marsh’s net – The John Arlott Award On arriving at the 2013 nets on a cold January morning the first thing I noticed, apart from John’s smile, was a lot of new young faces including three girls. I can’t remember exactly when we had girls netting but it was definitely at the Shaw Lane nets, which is a long time ago, so let’s hope they continue learning the game. This season’s net for me, with the 17-year- olds and under, has been special because having seen most of the eight players from their first net there were no surprises in their cricketing ability. Having netted with each other for so long they have a good camaraderie and have a good knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each other. My most improved player this year, having seen him in the lower net next to me last year, I could see that there was definite potential especially in his bowling. In my net he has shown real commitment to his bowling line and length and swinging the ball into a right hand batsman. His batting still needs work but this young man will improve. The runner-up is Jack Whale Starting as a new student in my net a few years ago it seemed as if we were starting from scratch in his batting and bowling. Over the last couple of years he has improved a great deal and can now hold his own among the others being quite a good medium-fast bowler. He has been most effective as an opening, stylish batsman: very correct, plays straight with good shot selection and show ability to listen and learn to instruction. The winner is Thomas Gardner The Jack Sokell Award (chosen by Brian Workman) The WCLS nets were the first time this young lad had ever played cricket. Still small in stature, for his age he has shown good levels of concentration and, above all, a great willingness to listen and to learn. Both his bowling and batting have improved tremendously and everything he does is accompanied by a smile. Keep up the good work! The winner is Ben Wells The Colleen Morley Award (chosen by Darren Crossland) In my opinion this award goes to a special young man who has a real potential to go on and play cricket at a high level, as long as he continues to keep improving. He runs in with speed and bowls a good line and length and gets the ball to move around. He needs to continue with his progression and it could be a big year for him if he can score big runs in District-Level cricket. He bats without fear for such a young lad and does not worry about the pace being bowled at him. He was asking to be moved up into another net, which is always pleasing, because this means he has real confidence and belief. He questions some things, which I believe you should, if you do not always understand, and this is the best way to make yourself a better cricketer. For a young lad at U11 to ask to move up into an age group of U15s, bowling quickly, is proof of his credentials. He is a very worthy winner of this award, never stops smiling, and a real pleasure to coach. The winner is Jack Riley Dickie Bird Award (Chosen by Sam Wilson and Darren Crossland) The winner of this special award is a young person who plays cricket with a smile and is also a very good bowler. This youngster does not try to bowl too fast just concentrates on bowling a good line. The recipient was a little low on confidence when batting in the first few weeks but worked hard to overcome this. This young player listens well and has worked hard to improve their batting. My advice to this youngster is to try to get behind the ball as much as possible and this will give you the chance to defend your wicket and then build on this to hopefully do a job for your team. I wish you all the best with your game this year and continue to enjoy your cricket with a smile. The winner is Eva Dowkes Eva Dowles and Ian Dews at Headingley