2021 was a memorable season for our 1st XI. During the season the 1st team were promoted from Division 2 & were unfortunately beaten finalists in the Bissenden Cup.
League
The main target at the start of the 2021 season was promotion for the 1st XI in the league. That was achieved in the penultimate game of the season with victory over High Lane. Losing only 2 games in the league all year we finished runners up, 15 points behind eventual champions Hazel Grove. Congratulations again to them.
Cup Comps
In the cup competitions we had three fantastic cup runs.
In the village cup we got to the Derbyshire regional final. The first round started with a good victory against Apperknowle, in the 2nd round we achieved a club record 1st XI score on the way to victory against Elvaston. We eventually met our match in the regional final, as we lost out against village cup competition quarter finalists South Wingfield.
Meanwhile in the Bissenden cup, we beat Newton, reigning Div 1 Champions Woodley and fellow Div 2 promotion hopefuls Hazel Grove all in very tense games en route to this years final. We unfortunately fell short in the final against a strong Dove Holes side on their home ground.
In the T20 competition, we managed to top our group with 3 wins from 3, beating Hollingworth, Dinting, & Charlesworth. We however narrowly lost at the quarter final stage in the last over to Hazel Grove.
Individual Season Highlights
With the bat, Martin McGrail led the way with 645 runs, including four 50s and one 100. He was supported by Rob Adderley (566, 3 50s), Chris Joy (381, 2 50s), Ben Whitehouse (296, 2 50s), Jehrome Sagar (272) & Jonny Wright (227) all scoring over 200 runs.
Bowling wise, in what is a strong bowling line up, skipper Rob Adderley picked up 55 wickets (including two 5 wicket hauls & 2 hat-tricks), Paul Littlewood 38 wickets, Ellis Walsh 34 wickets & Lenny Allsopp 25 wickets. A highlight for our bowlers was, only 4 sides scored over 150 against us all season and nobody over 180. A fantastic achievement for our bowling attack.
In the fielding department, Rob Adderley had 15 victims (13 catches and 2 run outs). Keeper Martin McGrail (8 catches, 5 stumpings), Chris Joy (8 catches), Jonny Wright (7 catches), & Ben Whitehouse (6 catches).
All in all a fantastic season for our 1st XI, even if we couldn’t quite get over the line for some silverware. Here’s hoping for even more success in 2022!
