Carrickfergus Cricket Club 1st XI - Review of Season 2009
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
CARRICKFERGUS Cricket Club went into the 2009 with a sense of expectation, with the1st XI boasting no fewer than seven new faces in its line-up.
There was a new professional in the form of Gavin Ewing, a Zimbabwean off spinning all rounder who had played 3 Tests and 7 ODI's, Matt Mangan a 19 year old Australian batsman with an Irish passport came on board, and the overseas theme continued with South African all-rounder Ross Gelderbloem who was working locally. Players joining from closer to home included the Stirling brothers, Paul and Richard, from Cliftonville; and from North Down came Michael Turkington and Andrew Haire, both looking for a platform to show their skills.
On to the field of play and it's not surprising really given the fact that it was nearly a completely new team that they suffered consistency problems. There was never any danger of a relegation battle with the talent at their disposal, but a title challenge was a still a long away as they finished in a respectable 6th place in the NCU Ulster Bank Premier League, and never really threatened in any of the cups. Seven league wins including victories over Instonians and North Down showed their undoubted potential, but there were also several games which they lost from what had appeared to be winning positions, which left Carrick with a feeling of what might have been at the end of the 2009 season.
On to the statistics, and Gelderbloem outshone Ewing with the bat, scoring 750 runs at 37.50. He hit one of only two centuries scored by the club, 107 against Bangor, and also made no fewer than 7 fifties out of a club total of 15. Ewing hit 451 runs at 32.21, scoring 3 half centuries, and with a top score of 75. Andrew Cowden impressed with the willow, his 556 runs came at 30.89, and included four fifties. Paul Stirling's Ireland commitments meant he didn't debut in the league until mid-June, but what a debut! He proceeded to blitz the beleaguered Ballymena attack to all parts, making a memorable 150.
Unfortunately after that, he appeared just 6 more times in Carrick colours, and 18 was the best of his returns, his final return of 214 runs at 30.57 boosted by that wonder knock. Mangan found the conditions at Middle Road very un-Aussie like and struggled with the bat, managing 299 runs @ 18.69, although his overall value to the side was greater than that.
Another player who disappointed with the bat was skipper Ryan Eagleson who had an uncharacteristically lean season scoring only 166 runs @ 16.60, he's capable of much better than that. Michael Turkington whose opportunities to impress were somewhat limited managed just 161 runs @ 16.10, while Michael Gilmour (201 at 12.56), and Richard Stirling (181 at 10.17) were the only others to get their averages into double figures.
On to the bowling, and former Irish international Eagleson once again topping the averages with 24 wickets @ 13.71. The economical Ewing captured 21 victims @ 17.71, while Carrick's player of the season Gelderbloem was the leading wicket taker, managing 27 wickets @ 18.37. As for the rest, it's a pretty poor story, with only left arm spinner Andrew Haire, and Andrew Cowden getting to double figures. Haire's return of 13 @ 35.31 wasn't what he or Carrick would have hoped for, Cowden's 10 @ 41.60 was disappointing after his 30+ wicktes in 2008, while the inconsistent Anthony Martin only managed 9 wickets @ 38.44. Behind the stumps Richard Stirling clung onto 23 catches and was one of the leading NCU keepers
The club has been blighted with drainage problems, not helped by the fact that it's rained almost non stop this past three summers, but they've invested in secondary drainage work, which should hopefully remedy their woes in this respect.
There will no doubt be some new faces at Carrick in 2010, the club has that happy knack of encouraging emerging talent to the fold, but it'll take a real effort from them if they are to emerge from mid table anonymity.
Subscribe to read full newspaper »
Send to a friend
Please complete the following form to inform a friend about this page.
