2009 proved to be one of the most exciting seasons in the history of The Chilterns Cricket League. Which is saying something after the closeness of the Championship in the past two seasons.
The downside to the season was the inability of Englefield to be able to complete their second eleven fixtures. They will be staying in the League next season with just a first eleven but will have to revive the second eleven to be able to stay in 2011.
Going into the final Saturday of the season it was possible for three clubs to win the Championship. Binfield were in pole position but either Braywood or Wraysbury could take the title from them. A quirk of the fixtures pitted Binfield with Braywood, who could be Champions with a winning draw or victory if they prevented Binfield from getting enough points. A Wraysbury 30pt victory put them in with a shout too. However just four points from a losing draw made Binfield Champions by virtue of finishing level on points with Wraysbury but having won one more match.
Braywood finished 3rd just three points behind for their best ever season. I am sure that it came as a shock that Chalfont St Giles were relegated and they will be joined in the second division by Denham. They will be replaced by Coleshill and White Waltham who were both involved in a tight finish at the top on the last day. Amersham Hill and White Waltham led the way in the Second Division First Eleven for most of the season but had stumbled over the final weeks. Amersham Hill would be promoted with victory at Coleshill as would a Coleshill victory promote them. Coleshill winning the match saw them as Division winners with White Waltham as runners up despite a last Saturday defeat. Just ten points separated the top five teams.
Holyport 2nd eleven had no such problems winning the First Division Second Eleven title with a massive 102 point margin. Their final total of 398 points is thought to be a record and we are still checking the records to make sure. Wraysbury were runners up again despite a last day defeat. Six clubs were in danger of relegation on the final day but victories for Binfield, Penn andTylers Green and Little Kingshill and a draw for Little Marlow left Winchmore Hill relegated despite having the same points as Little Marlow and they go down with Braywood.
WhiteWaltham led the way in the Second Division Second Eleven all season and are promoted along with Great Kingshill who bounce back after relegation lastseason.
Wraysbury won the Knock Out Cup beating Penn and Tylers Green in a closely contested final. We thank Little Kingshill for staging the final and their Chairman Tony Chick for presenting the trophies and look forward to Coleshill staging the final next season. The clubs both provided an umpire and we thank them for their impartiality and thank them for their valuable contribution.
Individual awards went to:
First Division 1st XI
Batting; O. Sarwar (Braywood) Bowling; A. Boad (Binfield).
First Division 2nd XI
Batting; P. Midha (Wraysbury) Bowling; Tim Hayes (Holyport)
Second Division 1st XI
Batting; G Pugh (White Waltham) Bowling; A West (White Waltham)
Second Division 2nd XI
Batting; Dennis Allen (White Waltham) Bowling; D. Beach(White Waltham).
My thanks, as always, go to the three members of the Executive, Ken Clark, Gaye Massey and Nick Thorne who all do so much work to ensure that we have a very well run league. Gaye has done a really good job as treasurer considering the difficult year she has had with the illness suffered by Paul. We wish them bothwell and hope Paul makes a full recovery soon. Nick Thorne (Taplow) has had another great season as Results and Fixtures Secretary but has decided to stand down. Due to his fine efforts we made him a Vice President at the Awards Evening and thank him for all his work. We need to fill the post quickly and ask all clubs to ask around for a volunteer and let Ken or me know.
My thanks also go to Binfield and especially Marian Hall and Ian Foster for their organisation of the Presentation Evening at the local Village Club.
Thanks go to Dileep and all at Morrants for their continued support. They are looking into the comments made during the season regarding match balls and we thank Bob Taylor for travelling down from Staffordshire to attend our last meeting to hear our thoughts and explain why things can sometimes go wrong. It was disappointing that one or two clubs that made comment prior to the meeting werenot represented on the evening.
I have been Chairman for many years now but am willing to continue if it is the wish of the Clubs.
