End-of-season summaries
Cricket bags have been dumped in a far-flung corner of the garage, absorbing the scent of a season’s sweat and maybe a forgotten half-eaten sandwich. The whites might have been washed, but it’s unlikely. Dreams of scoring a ton are fading into memory. The cricket season is done. And it’s time to take stock. How did our teams go? Are we happy with the 2023/2024 season?
1st XI (Men’s Premiership)
The season kicked off amidst a wave of optimism. The team had a stellar 22-23 campaign. Could this one be better yet?
There were some great team performances. The innings win against East Shirley in the two-day competition was one, while a first-time victory over St Albans was another highlight. A narrow defeat against Lancaster Park and an almost-win at Sydenham left us pondering the "if only" scenarios.
The one-day competition was an incredible campaign with resounding triumphs over Old boys, Burnside, Sydenham, Lancaster Park, and Merivale. The chase to beat Old Boys was awe-inspiring as Daniel Stanley smashed 78 off 31 balls and Tyler Lortan whipped up a big hundred, one of four this season. The win against Burnside at Heathcote Domain was equally impressive, again fulled by a Stanley blitzkrieg and a big Lortan innings.
This was Tyler’s year as the player-captain-coach scored a staggering 1161 runs at an average of 61, including five 50s and four 100s. Talor Scott, who returned to the club after some years away, deserves mention too. A couple of match-winning knocks and an average of 53 were highly valuable.
Looking ahead, the future is bright with promising talents such as like Matthew Hocqard, Ryan Samson, Louis Anderson, Harry Sinclair, and Caleb Donaldson coming through at the premiership level.
2nd XI (Men’s Championship)
In its first year after promotion from Division 1, the 2nd XI had an excellent season finishing third in the grade and making the final of the T20 competition.
The team focused on youth (John Garry and Charlie Grey aside). Several bowlers took five-wicket bags and the batting was consistent.
Marsyle Scott was the leading wicket-taker with Ben Meek and John Gallivan leading the new ball attack.
Will Hocquard, Charlie Grey, Caleb Donaldson, Harry Sinclair, and Shaun Berryman all scored consistently.
3rd XI (Men’s Division 1)
This season was a two-sided affair. The grade had expanded from eight to 12 teams and unlike previous seasons, started with the one-day competition. The team had success in that format, winning eight games and losing a couple, making the final, which was lost by 21 runs to old foe Merivale-Papanui in front of a packed Heathcote Domain.
The T20s were middling. Our batting failed to fire for the most. We lost three and won two.
We entered the two-day competition with high hopes and most games scheduled at Hillsborough Domain, our fortress. The grade was split in two and we were in the top half. This was where the overall grade would be won. It wasn’t to be as the side slumped to four outright losses.
Disappointment aside, there were plenty of individual performances to celebrate.
Vansh Malik was a revelation with the bat, starting the season strong with several half centuries including one on debut. After a dip in form, Vansh hit a century on the final day of the season. Welcome to the club, mate.
James Hamilton, back in the valley from the UK three years after his first season here, morphed from strike bowler into top order batsman. His 53 and 75 not out in a two-dayer against Burnside was superb. James also picked up 30 wickets at an average of 17 to make him comfortably the best allrounder in the side.
Alexander “Sasha” Gaffikin was our top bowler by a country mile. He picked up 40 wickets at an average of 11.78 and a best of 5-29, despite playing only 16 innings. Full season coming up for you, Sasha.
4th XI (Men’s Division 4)
Cricket, at its core, is a game about numbers. Accordingly, what better way to reflect on the season of 2023/2024 than by examining some key numbers.
5 – The total number of wins for the Alley Cats.
16 – The total number of losses for the Alley Cats.
6 – The number of games lost by the Alley Cats by a margin of less than 20 runs or 2 wickets.
2 – The number of severed patella tendons suffered by Alley Cat’s batsman Duncan Gibson in one innings.
328 – The number of runs scored by top run scorer Jonny Pugh (328 runs @ 41).
26 – The number of wickets taken by top wicket taker Angus Scott (26 wickets @ 13.12).
2 – The number of Alley Cats players to reach 100+ career wickets and 1000+ career runs during the season, since records began in 2016. Angus Scott (1653 runs @ 17.97 and 136 wickets @ 13.00) and Carlos Smith-Diaz (1147 runs @ 20.12 and 142 wickets @ 16.67).
6 – The number of unfortunate victims fired by Kevin “Trigger Finger” List.
7 – The total number of 50s made by Alley Cats batsmen during season (Jonny Pugh x2, Angus Scott, Carlos Smith-Diaz, Ben MacIntosh, and Tom Knight).
14.34 – The mean batting average for all Alley Cats players across all innings.
30 – The total number of ducks registered by Alley Cats batsmen.
38 – The highest number of extras conceded during one innings by the Alley Cats (32 wides, 1 no ball, 1 leg bye and 4 byes).
1 – The total number of five-wicket bags taken by Alley Cats bowlers (Taylor McLellan, 5/24).
2019 – The total number of career runs scored by Tom Knight for the Alley Cats (2019 @ 24.62).