Cardiff Cavaliers Cricket Club

“The World of Willow” as seen by Jez

[Ed: or, more simply, Review of the League]

Now updated with details of Plate and Shield and individual performances ...

Plate & Shield

Sadly, a series of teams scratching from their fixtures affected much of the Plate and, it could be argued, devalued the competition. Certainly, the League will need to consider carefully at the AGM in the autumn how best to try to ensure that teams fulfil fixtures. The Consmen won all their games and carried off the Plate and so our final game against Oz Bar was the decider for the Runners-up spot. The full match report can be viewed separately but it was a record-breaking run chase for us and meant that, in the two Plate matches at Llandaff Oval, 688 runs were scored in just under 70 overs, quite phenomenal.

In the Shield, South Glam lost their 100% record for the season, losing to Chartered Trust, who then slipped up themselves and a wash out of the final round of fixtures meant that South Glam completed a unique Willow treble: winning the League, Cup and Shield. This must rank as one of the best team performances of all time in the League.

Individual performances

Details can be found by clicking on the Willow web link here but we must make mention of the Cavaliers who appeared in the list of the top five performers with bat and ball:

Warwick Armstrong, runner up with the second highest run aggregate

Nick Hutchings, third in batting list

Mark Simpson, with 11 League wickets.

Our thanks to Dave Powell of GE Healthcare who collates, records and analyses the scorecards and produces the tables, match reports for the South Wales Echo and the Willow League web site - much appreciated, Dave.

League season

Firstly, it’s probably helpful to those either new to us or not too familiar with the Willow League to explain how the League and Shield/Plate competitions fit together.  After several years of home-and-away fixtures through the whole season, there was a clear disparity between the sides leading to some very one-sided games that soon lost their interest for everyone. So it was decided to switch the League to one where you played every team once only (on a “home or away” basis) and, at the end of 11 rounds of matches, the table determined who was the League Champion.

The final League standings were then used to set up two separate competitions for the second half of the summer.  The top 6 placed teams played each other once again (with home/away reversed from the initial fixture) for the Shield, and the bottom teams competed for the Plate.  This was felt, and it is probably true, that it provides for more equally matched games that everyone can enjoy rather than suffering another thumping or winning at a canter. The format was also slightly different with it being 18 overs/side and you need a minimum of 6 bowlers as each has a 3 over limit. For the past two seasons the Cavaliers, despite finishing near the bottom of the League table, have excelled in the Plate competition winning it in 2004 and 2005.

Now, on to the analysis of the League season this year …

It’s probably as well that the rationale behind the switch to Shield/Plate competitions is not up for review this year as, aside from South Glam who have trounced everyone in sight, there has been a considerable closeness in many of the matches – two of ours have gone to the final few balls with all results possible (and we’re not the only ones) – and some major upsets:

• Sevenoaks chalked up a victory over Casuals and a walk-over against Chartered Trust, last year’s Champions (and made it into the Shield competition for the first time in eons)

• Rhiwbina beat Casuals

• GE Healthcare recorded their first League win for 3 seasons

• and, of course, we ourselves beat both Rhiwbina and L&G in convincing style (both of whom were regularly in the top 4 or 5)

Sadly, there have been several games where teams have either failed to turn up or scratched from the fixture and I’m sure this will exercise the League’s mind over the winter. In the past this has often been down to just one ‘bad’ boy but there have been at least four different offenders this year – I’m not sure which is worse, those who struggle to get a team out but let you know early [Ed: we've all been there at times, struggling to get sides out] or those who fail to read the League communications properly (of which there's only around a handful during the season) and simply don’t turn up on the appointed date leaving those who have acted on the information frustrated on the boundary edge.

There have always been some class players among the teams, but they have been regular club men playing over several years but the last season or two it has seemed as though one or two teams have had recruitment drives. This has led to some games being dominated and determined by one player who is clearly playing against those of a much lower level than that which they are used to at weekends and, instead of recognising the essentially social nature of the League, some teams have continued to use them in the early stages of games to influence the outcome.

However, the true spirit of the game does live on, perhaps best exemplified in our match with GE Healthcare where we lent them a person so they had 11 fielding throughout our batting innings, and we ended up losing narrowly in the final over. It was their first win for 3 years but they didn’t go overboard in their celebrations.

Recruitment, though, can cause its own problems as Casuals are finding out.  A humungous response to their web site brought in a glut of players which forced them into making selection decisions on the hoof. This meant they were putting out teams on a strict rotation basis rather than trying to match the relative strength of the opposition.

For other teams, like Sevenoaks and ourselves, it’s been a tale of guys learning from experience (and playing to their potential) and an influx of new blood that has narrowed the divide. When one of the perennial top teams complains about the points system it’s a sign that they are feeling the pressure of more competitive games. The points system was revised this year to better reflect the closeness (or otherwise) of each game rather than the vast disparity of the playing surfaces used where a team with access to a good pitch for home games always racked up maximum batting points, and those on poorer Council pitches were doomed to low scoring affairs.

It’s been a real joy to see some of the team and individual performances of the Cavaliers this year – excelling in the three disciplines to take us to the verge of making the Shield (which would have been our first ever foray in the senior competition) and to one of our best ever League finishes since it was reformatted [Ed: arguably, it was the rain in May which washed out games against weaker sides that probably tipped the balance and thwarted us from making a Cup run]. We have turned over a couple of teams that no-one would have predicted at the outset and surprised a couple of others with the closeness of the game.

Well done to everyone – the team spirit is tremendous and, I believe, we are the best supported side in the League.  The Cavaliers is about giving people the chance to play and enjoy cricket whatever their level of skill and availability. Here's to an equally enjoyable second half of the season. Cheers. J

[Ed: to see the final League table click on this link]