2005 Season Round-Up

The Club’s First XI, led by skipper Rhys Jones and recently-promoted to Division 2 of the South Wales Cricket League finished a creditable sixth, recording notable victories over a number of top sides.

In the South Wales Conference First XI League Division 2, Stuart Drury and Andy Lloyd led the their side to fourth place, whilst the Club’s other two sides, captained by Peter Allen/Gary Israel and by Paul Hewitt also secured mid-table slots in their respective divisions.

The sides representing the Club in the Vale of Glamorgan Midweek League and in the Winter Indoor Leagues also finished in mid-table.

A record attendance at the Club's Annual Dinner saw the presentation of the following awards:

William Ricketts Clubman of the Year

Steve Griffith

John Humphry Player of the Year (First Team)

Vishal Chitloor

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

Prajwal Coutinho – WCC Division 2, First XI

Russell Martin – SWCL Division 1, Second XI

Alan Hughes – WCC Division 2,  Second XI

Tours to Leicestershire and Dorset were well supported and a tour to South Africa is planned for February 2006.

Youth Section

The Club's ever-growing youth section continued to develop apace and with growing success. The Under-13 side, led by Luke Jones, won its Cardiff and the Vale League and Play-off final, losing only one match all season. Teams at U-15 and U-11 levels finished in respectable places in their respective divisions. The U-9’s showed much promise but were restricted in the number of possible fixtures, with a number of opposing sides unable to field teams. The Club is now running Winter training for over 100 youngsters in association with the Cardiff and the Vale and through these sessions is helping to satisfy huge demand for the sport in north and east Cardiff.

The Youth Section Awards Night once again attracted over 120 guests. Every member of the youth section received an award and there were several special award winners:

Player of the Year

Under-11 Jamie Wilson

Under-13 Alexander Burkhard

Under-15 Matthew Williams

Batting Award

Under-11 Rhodri Jones

Under-13 Joe Williams

Under-15 Alex Currie

Bowling Award

Under-11 Ollie Price

Under-13 Luke Jones

Under-15 Matthew Tabor

Coach’s Achievement Award

Under-11 Matthew Edwards

Under-13 Alex Dodd-Jones

Under-15 Daniel Blowers

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

Along with Matthew, four other Club players, Uwais Ashraf, Hugh Meatyard, Thomas Morgan and Alex Williams also represented the county this season.

Clive Brown, Rob Edwards, Niall Foster, Steve Griffiths and Ian Tabor qualified as ECB Coaches in 2004-2005.

The Club has introduced full wicket, roll-on covers to its Whiteheads, Bassaleg home ground. Excellent pre-season preparation of the wicket resulted in an improvements in bounce and pace. Further work should ensure even more improvement for 2006.