Wanstead & Snaresbrook CC
2008 Season Review
2008 was a successful season for the club with the Ist XI winning the Premier League in some style. Their impressive run actually started way back on 14 July 2007, from when they were unbeaten in 25 league games with 16 wins, 6 draws and 3 abandoned games – an amazing feat which will take some beating. The historic strength at Wanstead & Snaresbrook CC has always been the youth system and during the run the 1st XI used 22 players, 15 of whom had come through this system.
As for individuals, there is no doubt the 1st XI has one of the strongest bowling line-ups in club cricket. No less than 7 players qualified for the League Bowling Averages. A great mixture of aspiring professionals such as Merv Westfield, Maurice Chambers, who played for Essex in their Twenty/20 team, former international cricketer Shaheed Saeed, Wanstead's favourite new boy Chris Murray, the reliable Mohammed Fayyaz Khan and John Chambers and last but not least the Herons’ player of the year Adnan Akram, who took 25 wickets with his gentle medium pace..
Captain Arfan Akram was the leading runscorer with 638 runs (average 45.5) including a hundred before lunch against Brentwood. Adnan's good form with the ball was backed by his batting displays scoring 452 runs including a superb 134 at home to Upminster. Useful runs were also supplied by Matthew Smith, Merv Westfield, Mohammed Fayyaz Khan, Shahid Saeed and John Chambers.
The preparation for defending the title has already begun and the good news for the future is that barring 4 players, the rest of the squad is under the age of 25. The team would like to thank Henry Chambers and Terry O'Connor for their kind support and help throughout the season.
Under a new captain, Graeme Webb, the 2nd XI had a reasonable season finishing 5th in the league. A total of 31 players were used blending experience with a promising squad of youngsters. The leading runscorer was 16 year old Christian Burgess with 437 runs at an average of just under 40. Once again David Richardson excelled with bat (339 runs) and ball (35 wickets). A highlight of the season was the explosive 202 NO scored by Jonathan Hinton against Loughton in one of the few games he played. The team again appreciated Tony Richardson for scoring all season and for his general support.
The 3rd XI had a frustrating season. At the mid-point of the season they were top of their league but the defeat by Chelmsford by just 8 runs proved somewhat of turning point as they managed to win only two of their last 8 games. The team eventually finished third. The main problem during the season was scoring runs with Humza Ishtiaq (490 runs; Average 40) the only consistent runscorer although Stephen Ramdial (360 runs; Average 30) also did well when not playing for the 2nd XI. Ed Jennings (17wickets) in his first season with club always gave a hundred per cent and the exciting thing for the club is the obvious potential of young spinners Joe Ellis-Grewal (26 wickets) and Jahanser Akbar (14 wickets).
Having gained promotion to the 3rd XI League Division 2 the previous year, the 4th XI had another successful season. They weren't expecting to gain promotion for a third year running, but that's how it turned out. The team’s success was due to the quality batting from players such as Josh Hutchings (434 runs; Average 43), Rehan Hassan (296 runs in 4 matches; Average 131) and Sunil Dwivedi, despite his bad knee, managing 406 runs. In the bowling department Ron Fitzgerald (vice captain) took 32 wickets averaging 16.41, Shafaet Amin 19 wickets averaging 16.79, Hidrat Popal 13 wickets averaging 12 and Aditya Goutam 12 wickets at average of 18.17. The captain Dave Ramdial would like to thank all the players who played in the 4th team for making the season a success.
Wanstead Fifth XI enjoyed the most successful season of their short history as they were crowned Fourth XI Division Two Central Champions. The side played some fantastic cricket, winning 10 of their 12 league games, beating every other side in their division on the way to the title. The league was effectively decided when they beat rivals Hornchurch in their penultimate game of the season in appalling weather conditions. Great credit must go to both teams for their determination to play the fixture and their desire to let the league be decided on the field. As ever the team benefited hugely from the club’s flourishing youth section, with as many as 24 young players getting their first taste of adult cricket over the campaign. The team’s star performer, 13-year-old Rehan Hassan, topped both the batting and bowling averages. A true credit to the coaching he has received during his time at the club. Teenagers Khaled Ahmed and Haseeb Chaudhri continued their development proving on a number of occasions their abilities with mature performances beyond their years. Wicket-Keeper Andrew Osborn was assured behind the stumps throughout the season while his elder brother Simon greatly enjoyed his first season as captain having taken over from Trevor Hebden. He was greatly assisted in the field by a host of senior players, notability Vice-Captain Sanjay Batra and Ewan Ferguson. The latter enjoyed a great campaign with the bat and was easily the sides most improved player, although South-African opening bowler Faghrie Peters came close to that honour because of his consistency with the new ball. Thanks from the team must go to Pauline Osborn for scoring throughout the season and the many parents who helped get the young team to games by providing transport.
The club’s juniors had another successful season. Despite the monsoons, more than 200 juniors played in excess of 250 matches. The Under 16’s qualified for the quarter-final stage of the Matchplay where they lost to the eventual winners, Hadleigh & Thundersley. Our Under 15’s won the Peters Cup but went out of the National Competition at the Regional Finals stage. The Under 13’s were an outstanding squad again, winning the David Bradford, the Len Stentiford and the Nasser Hussain Trophies. They, too, were knocked out of the National Competition at the Regional Final stage. The Under 11’s finished runners-up in the Nasser Hussain (40 over) trophy but could only finish mid-table in the MECB mid-week League
Our girls had a tremendous year. Our Under 13’s won the Essex Lady Taverners competition and qualified for the National Finals which were to be held in Ashby de la Zouche, to which we all drove only to discover that the ECB had failed to tell us that the Finals had been postponed! The section continues to progress but, as always, suffers by being unable to get fixtures. However there is now a path for our girls into adult Ladies Cricket as we now have an established team in the North London Women’s League.