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| 2008 Season Review - Nice Try But No Cigar
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The novelist Malcolm Bradbury once explained the difference between reporting facts and creative writing by contrasting a cricket scorecard with a match report. The former would inform the reader of what had occurred whereas the latter could bring to life the game as it unfolded and tell the reader how and possibly why events occurred as they did, recounting along the way entertaining, remarkable and sometimes bizarre events that make cricket the game that it is.
The bare statistics of this season are that the Henley CC First XI finished 6th in Division 1 on 254 points, 25 points behind the 2008 Champions High Wycombe. Out of 18 games, six were won, seven drawn, three lost and two cancelled owing to the weather. Although this summer was little better than 2007 overall, far fewer games were lost to the weather and the Brakspear Ground was not transformed into a lake for local wildlife. As the League-table shows, ultimately, there was very little between the top six teams and going into the last few games of the season, the championship was wide open, reflecting a degree of variable performance and inconsistency by all clubs throughout the season.
It would be very easy with the benefit of hindsight to suggest that but for the intervention of the rain at Banbury in July when the home side were 43-8 and the cancellation of the game at Falkland in August, Henley could well have been champions. It is indeed probable that both games would have been won and had that occurred, Henley would indeed have been 32 points to the good.
The better view is that if Henley had played to their potential from the off and shown the form that they did in the latter part of the season, they would have been champions by a long way. So the real story of the season is one of a slow and poor start, a long period of catch-up and gradual movement away from the gravitational pull of relegation only to arrive just a bit too late in the championship zone. There are a number of reasons for the lacklustre start to the season, but prominent amongst them would be the lack of warm up games, the incorporation into the team of a number of new players who took a while to find their feet and, a problem throughout the season, an overall lack of batting performance.
On the opening day of the season, Henley entertained newly promoted Welwyn. Chasing 288, they collapsed to 229 all out in circumstances where a draw should certainly have been secured. A week later in appalling conditions at High Wycombe, Henley dismissed the home team for 124 but another abysmal batting display saw Henley hold on for a draw by the skin of their teeth, a feat repeated rather chaotically the following week at Tring thanks primarily to the efforts of Bjorn Mordt and Paul Carter with the bat.
A home tie against relegation favourites Falkland suggested an opportunity to get the season rolling and having dismissed Falkland for a generous 140, the omens looked good. Yet again however, a talented roll call of Henley batmen had no answer to some modest bowling as Henley were all out for 82 and Falkland recorded their only victory of the season. Defeat away at Oxford the following weekend in Week 5 cemented a dismal 9th place and the only way was up.
There was a marked improvement the following week when Radlett were the visitors at the Brakspear Ground. Radlett never looked like emulating Henley’s 255, thanks to another strident performance by Mordt with the bat plus contributions by Michael Roberts and Chad Keegan, but Radlett clung on 9 wickets down to secure a draw due in no small part to the Radlett middle order being allowed to get rather too comfortable for too long in the face of some pretty benign spin and slow bowling.
It took until a dank and gloomy midsummer’s day (a marked contrast with the recent weather we have been enjoying) for Henley to record their first win of the season at Slough thanks to Adrian Greyvenstein, Mordt and Carter in what was again an otherwise stuttering batting display. A second win of the season should have come Henley’s way the following weekend as they entertained Reading. Mordt, in terrific form with the bat, broke records as he notched up 146, this time assisted in the main by Todd Ferguson (56) and by modest performances elsewhere. Reading were never going to emulate 321 but Henley ran out of overs as Reading, 8 wickets down, clung on for the draw and Henley were left to rue not declaring sooner. At least another winning draw saw Henley begin to claw their way out of the relegation zone and claim seventh spot where they were to remain for much of the rest of the season as they chased down those that had made a better start.
Their pursuit was frustrated by the rain at Banbury and draw at a soggy Welwyn but once again, the batting was variable and inconsistent. Whilst Mordt and Allaway led the way at Banbury, only Carter and Alleyne really stepped up to the plate at Welwyn.
In both games however, Henley had had the better of the opposition and a growing confidence was reflected in an 8 wicket victory over High Wycombe who, looking far from Champions elect, were bowled out for 136, Mordt once again starring with the bat with an unbeaten 80. Victory a week later home to Tring Park owed much to the contributions of Alleyne and Allaway with the bat. Though 207 was rather less than one might have hoped for faced with Tring’s batting firepower, on the day, Tring had no answer to Dave Griffiths and Tom Lambert. Just as Henley were gaining momentum, the weather washed out the following games at Falkland and home to Oxford. The former cancellation was particularly galling as all the other matches went ahead.
Still, it was back to winning ways at Radlett as Chad Keegan, realising that it was not necessary to try and hit every ball out of the ground, finally showed what he was all about with a scintillating all round performance which included 85 runs, 5 wickets and some sharp fielding. The following weekend, Keegan was again rampant as Henley dismissed a demoralised Slough for 197 and Henley won by 8 wickets, Keegan smashing an excellent 116.
Relegation bound Reading were Henley’s next victims and had no answer to the bowling of Griffiths (7-51) and another big knock by Mordt (82) albeit that the underlying fragility in the Henley batting still made the outcome a bit nip and tuck.
And so Henley saw out the season against Banbury amidst the encircling gloom of a horrid September afternoon in a game that petered out to a draw and put paid to Banbury’s hopes of the championship.
At the end of the season Mordt was the third highest scorer in the HCPL with 710 and an average of 50.6. He was the only Henley player to feature in the HCPL list of leading batsmen which is made up of those who score 400+. In no small measure, this is symptomatic of the season. Had Mordt’s contribution been as limited and variable as some of his team-mates, it is possible that Henley would have been relegated. Certainly he kept the ship afloat when it mattered most.
A number of players will be disappointed with their performances this season. By their own high standards, openers Michael Roberts and Chris Ellison had below par campaigns. 2007 Player of the Year Greyvenstein’s availability was limited and in consequence his form suffered. More was undoubtedly expected of Alleyne. Although Allaway displayed a welcome return to form compared with 2006 and 2007, Carter and Ferguson scored 300 plus runs each and all made valuable contributions on different days, their average scores were modest reflecting up and down campaigns. Keegan also scored 300+ and recorded the second highest average of 38.2, but again it is important to bear in mind that the lions’ share of those runs came in just three games.
In contrast, the bowling department acquitted itself very well indeed. In only two games (Welwyn (H) and Tring (A)) could it be said that the opposition batsmen had the better of the encounter. Generally, whether they bowled first or second, Henley’s bowlers limited sides to modest scores, assisted in no small measure by a standard and quality of fielding which is probably the best in the League and top-notch wicket keeping by Ferguson who claimed 26 catches and 4 stumpings.
League regulations meant that it was not possible to play Griffiths and Billy Taylor simultaneously, but both players made excellent contributions, Griffiths claiming 21 wickets at an average of 13.9 and Taylor 19 at an average of 14.4. Although Taylor collected more of his wickets further down the order, his back of a length bowling, ideally suited to First Class county one day games, was miserly in the extreme and created pressure that others exploited. Tom Lambert, as ever, weighed in with a whole hearted performance, taking 26 wickets at an average of 16.1 whilst Alleyne contributed 19 wickets at an average of 28.2. Spin bowling, or a willingness to deploy spin remains an issue and although Azeem Hussein and Carter had limited opportunities, Hussein still took 10 wickets. Thereafter there were contributions by Nick Denning (4) Keegan (8) (only towards the end of the season) and Mordt himself (6). Had Shaun Udal spent his summer at Henley instead of playing for and going on to skipper Middlesex, the picture might have been very different on the spin front.
Overall then, a season which promised much but delivered less than it should have, rather than little. Henley Chairman, Paul Bradbury, told the Standard “the season for all concerned has been more influenced by poor weather than any other I can recall. Even on those days when play was possible, conditions were often cold and miserable. Nonetheless, the season was a productive one for all teams with the 1st X1, after a very poor start, finishing a creditable mid-table, only some 20 odd points behind the champions. Better luck with the weather would have seen us in a much better position. The 2nd X1 gained promotion as champions and both the 3rd and 4th X1s played well on many occasions throughout the season.
A pleasing feature of this season has been the development of several young local players, notably Stewart Davison and Euan Brock, the former scoring three centuries. Indeed, eleven centuries were scored by club players during the year, beating any previous record by a country mile. Some of these young players are now ready for more permanent places in the 1st X1 and 2nd X1s. That is what the club is all about”
In other competitions, Henley were runners up to Oxford in the Oxfordshire Cup, a 20/20 event and made the last16 of the Cockspur Cup. Next season the Cockspur cup is no more in its current limited overs format and the Club will participate in the Cockspur 20/20 Cup which had its inargural season with the semi finals and final being shown on Sky - now that would be something to look forward to.....
Final Standings
High Wycombe 279
Banbury 275
Tring Park 271
Oxford264
Radlett 257
Henley 254
Welwyn GC 241
Slough 155
Reading 143
Falkland 130
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| Match Reports for 2008
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A full set of First XI Match Reports for 2008 can now be found under Archive.
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