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Buxton Cricket Club 1st XI
Captain: Iain Betts
Vice Captain: Mark Hill
Celebrating a wicket against Broadbottom
Building on their third placed finish in the 2009 season, Buxton 1st XI, led by the shrewd Iain Betts, finally found the elusive consistency in both performance and selection which has deserted them in recent campaigns. This resulted in them winning the DCCL Division 2 title on the last match of the season at New Mills.
Hollingworth were the early pace setters in the Division but faded away when Buxton beat them in a tense game in early June. Broadbottom then topped the table for much of July and August but a crushing victory inflicted on them by the Bucks in September saw them slip to second, the position they ended up finishing in.
Buxton recorded 15 victories in the campaign, losing only three and having four abandoned, two of these when the Bucks were looking certain of winning. Their best spell was picking up 20 points in four consecutive games from mid June to mid July.
Notable victories included knocking off over 200 at home to Dove Holes, scoring 10 off the last over against Hollingworth to win and comfortably seeing off table topping Broadbottom at The Park in September. One of the most important wins was surely managing to chase down 90 in a rain-affected game at home to Hollingworth on a weekend when many games fell foul of the weather.
With the bat, Buxton were much improved and the addition of Julian Burgess to their line up added some much needed experience in the top order. Burgess himself was top run scorer with 654 runs while Luke Smith notched three centuries, the highlight of which was 107 against Woodley when the Bucks were struggling at 48-3, and averaged 47.33. Amrit Singh bludgeoned 147 not out against Charlesworth, finishing with 527 runs at 31 whilst Bob Marsden, Steve Knighton and Tom Forder all averaged over 20 and made important contributions. Tim Frohwein proved again what a good finisher he is recording five not outs in his nine innings and averaging 57.
On the bowling front, Nick Smith was again the leading wicker taker whilst Matthew Poole and Mark Hill took 70 wickets between them with the new ball. Johny Marsden was exceptional in the handful of games he played, picking up 17 wickets whilst Amrit Singh claimed 18 victims, proving his all-rounder status. Yet it was Scott Mackenzie who was the star of the season with the ball, taking 27 wickets in only a half season and proving what a canny bowler he is during the middle stages of the innings.
The fielding was of a high standard yet there is still room for improvement. Wicket keeper Tom Forder took 15 catches and four stumpings whilst there was three run outs in Buxton’s last match of the season.
Consolidation in Division 1 is now the Bucks’ aim for 2011.
1st XI Batsman of the Year: Luke Smith
1st XI Bowler of the Year: Scott Mackenzie
1st XI Fielder of the Year: Tom Forder
1st XI Squad at the End of Season Presentations
Buxton Cricket Club 2nd XI
Captain: Will Annison
Vice Captain: Phil Bentley
1st XI and 2nd XI players at the End of Season Presentations
After a good start, recording three wins in their first four games, Buxton 2nd XI had an inconsistent campaign before a crucial victory against Newton on the last weekend of the season prevented them being relegated in their first season in Division 3.
Tom Griffin and Tim Budd were the main contributors with the bat whilst, as ever, it was Phil Bentley and Phil Slater who were the leading wicket takers.
Their eighth placed finish and eight wins signals a decent season in the end in a Division which was extremely tight. One more win would have seen Buxton finish in fourth.
If they can become more consistent, there is no reason why the 2nd XI can not challenge for the Division 3 title in 2011.
2nd XI Batsman of the Year: Tom Griffin
2nd Xi Bowler of the Year: Phil Bentley
2nd XI Fielder of the Year: Mikey Heathcote
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