2006 Season Round-Up

 

The Club recorded unprecedented successes for a number of sides, particularly at youth level where the numbers of players attracted to the Club’s various training activities continued to grow remarkably in the wake of the 2005 Ashes victory.

 

The Club continued to enjoy the use of the Whitehead Sports and Social Club, Bassaleg as the home ground for two adult league sides and the majority of youth matches and Summer training activities.  The Wales Club Conference sides were based at the University Playing Fields, Llanrumney and the Vale of Glamorgan Midweek League side used Penarth as their home ground.  Winter training activities were focussed on UWIC and St David’s College.

 

ADULT SIDES

 

Skipper Rhys Jones led the adult First XI to their highest ever league position with the side finishing fourth in Division Two of the Thomas Carroll South Wales Cricket League.  In the reserve Division Two, Gary Israel’s side just avoided the wooden spoon at the end of a difficult season.

 

The Club’s two sides in the Welsh Club Cricket Conference both struggled to maintain the standard of previous seasons and suffered the Club’s first-ever relegations.

 

Conversely, the midweek side led by David Flynn, won the Vale of Glamorgan League.  This was the Club’s sixth title since the competition began in 1994.

 

Several past and present youth members established themselves within the Club’s four adult league sides and special awards of Emerging Players of the Year were awarded to Luke Jones and Owen Thomas.

 

Two six-a-side teams continued in the Sunday Indoor League, based at Sophia Gardens, together with a further side in the Thursday league.

 

William Ricketts Clubman of the Year

 

Ian Morgan

 

John Humphry Player of the Year (First Team)

 

Stuart Drury

 

Player of the Year awards for other teams were also presented to:

 

Peter Allen – WCC Division 2, First XI

Lyndon Edwards – SWCL Division 2, Second XI

Tony Jenkins – WCC Division 2, Second XI

 

Tours to South Africa (Cape Town, Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth) in February and to West Sussex and Dorset/Somerset during the season were well supported.

 

Captains

 

Rhys Jones – SWCL Division 2, First XI

Ty Butterfield / Peter Allen / Andrew Witcombe – WCC Division 2, First XI

Gary Israel – SWCL Division 2, Second XI

Paul Hewitt – WCC Division 2, Second XI

Peter Allen - Friendlies

 

YOUTH SECTION

 

At Under-9 level, the side topped the inaugural Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan table, winning ten of their twelve matches and a number of additional friendlies.

 

The Under-11 and Under-13 sides, led by Matthew Edwards and Joe Edwards, both finished top of their respective C&VoG leagues whilst a young Under-15 side performed admirably in their division.  Sides playing in the Gwent league also performed well.

 

During the year the Club gained Clubmark Accreditation, an important quality assurance milestone in respect of the development of its youth activities.

 

The Youth Section Awards Night once again attracted over 120 guests, including special guests David Harrison and Michael Powell of Glamorgan CC.  Every member of the youth section received an award and there were several special award winners:

 

Player of the Year

 

Under-11  Thomas Morgan

Under-13  Joe Williams

Under-15  Luke Jones

 

Batting Award

 

Under-11  Matthew Edwards

Under-13  Alex Burkhard

Under-15  Matthew Davies

 

Bowling Award

 

Under-11  Guru Ravikumara

Under-13  Neal Singh

Under-15  Matthew Tabor

 

Coaches Achievement Award

 

Under-11  Robert Vaughn

Under-13  Oliver Jefferies

Under-15  Aryan Khan

 

There was also the presentation of the Jeff Sullivan Young Cricketer of the Year award to Joe Williams.

 

Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan county caps were awarded to Uwais Ashraf, Matthew Edwards, Thomas Morgan, Guru Ravikumara, Tom Rogers and Joe Williams.

 

Coaches

 

Under-9           Clive Brown and Ian Morgan

Under-11         Dave Edwards, Ian Morgan (VoG)/Rod Bowen and David Flynn (Gwent)

Under-13         Niall Foster, Steve Griffith and Rhys Jones

Under-15         Ivan Jones, Ian Tabor and Martin Williams

 

Ashleigh Crowter, Dave Edwards and David Flynn qualified as ECB Coaches.  Niall Foster qualified as a Level 2 ECB coach.  The Club was grateful for the financial support of Sportlot Community Chest in respect of these training opportunities