4th XI Crowned League Champions With One Game To Go

Halesowen Cricket Club 4th XI under the guidance of Andy Bullingham have rounded off their excellent season by securing the league title with one game to go. Posting an excellent record of 10 wins, two draws, four losses and one abandonment and accumulating 277 points along the way they lead the table by an unassailable 44 points with one match to go. Hopefully on Saturday the team can record another 24 point win to top 300 points this season, a total that they surely deserve for their fine play this season.

The side all season has been competitive in all the games that they have played and managed to fulfil the developmental role that is so pivotal to the club by giving youngsters the chance to play senior cricket and to have greater responsibility during matches. The success of the side has been built around a blend of senior experience and youthful promise and the young players have had a major hand in securing the title. Scott Jones, Phil Traves, Deon Patel and Alex Bullingham have all played a major part during the seventeen matches together with experienced players such as Geoff Smith, Adrian Bullock, Matt Webb and Rob Reed and the improvement by squad players such as John Aston and Matt Faulker being crucial as well. The players mentioned together with everyone who has played this season deserve enormous praise for taking the team to the title despite almost weekly team changes. 35 players have featured this season and each and every week they have been committed to playing the best cricket possible. And their efforts have been rewarded with a deserved league championship. The future of the bottom of the club looks good and a lot of the young players can only go on to bigger and better things. With the quality of the youth section and the commitment of senior players 4th team cricket will only get stronger and we can continue to replace the players that reach higher teams with more quality junior players. This win is a dedication to all the hard work of so many including the players, those who prepare the teas and ground and the youth section coaches who have produced an excellent crop of players. We look forward to next season with confidence and more recently attending the league dinner to pick up the league trophy.

The players who have taken the team to the League Title are as follows:

Adrian Bullock, John Aston, Tom Williams, Andrew Windsor, Phil Traves, Arshi Saleem,
Alex Bullingham, Andy Bullingham, Deon Patel, Ian Percival, Rob Reed, Phil Croft,
Geoff Smith, Matt Webb, Ashraf Kaleem, Scott Jones, Matt Robbins, Richard Tolley, Chris Woodhouse, Tom Wickstead, Matt Byrne, Jack Foley, Alex Tipton, Richard Tromans, Luke Miley, Alex Farrar, Kester Moseley, Sarfraz Zahoor, Martin Dunn, Simon Walker, Sam Moore, Shaz Gill, Mo Ramzan, Matt Faulkner, Jack Windsor

The Team Who Won The Game On Saturday

Andy Bullingham summed up the achievements: “It has been a big season for us. I am delighted to have won the title with one game to go. It has been a real team effort as we have used 35 players during the season. For them to be focused each week and to put in competitive performances despite constant team changes is remarkable. It has been particularly pleasing to see so many young players play a major role as well. Coupled with an influx of senior players at the end of last season who used to play Sunday cricket and the emergence and improvement of several fringe players the future looks good. With our strength in depth I really think we can chase back to back promotions next season. I must thank the groundsman for the pitches and the tea ladies for the teas and the youth section coaches who produce a steady stream of talent each year. It should be noted that when the young lads who have played so big a part this season go onto to higher teams which they surely will, then there are still a number of players to take their place. I am excited by the future and look forward to next season with confidence.”