First Eleven
There were three well-defined phases in this season's cricket which are best explained by the summary of results: of the first four matches, three were won and the other drawn; six of the next ten matches were lost, the remaining four being drawn; two of the last four matches were won and the other two drawn. It can be seen that the team struck a very poor patch in the middle of the season and it was only towards the end that the side as a whole regained the confidence it had in those first few matches. The statistics show that, oddly enough, the team played much better against the stronger sides, the most notable being the draw against the Old Monovians who put out a very strong team by any standards.
It was thought by some that the younger members of last year's team would provide the backbone of a very strong team this year. Unfortunately, these younger players time after time had the onus of responsibility on their shoulders, and it very often proved too much for them. This is not to their discredit, for it was the older members of the team who were expected to mould the shape of the game, but only too frequently they cut out the thin end of the wedge for Monoux.
There were very few occasions when the whole side played well. The pattern of those ten games in the middle of the season became only too familiar: one or two players would find their form in each match and the rest of the team, although trying hard, failed to impress at all. There was no bowler who could bowl consistently on a length throughout an innings and this made the problem of keeping down the runs a difficult one, not that the fielding was to blame; the fielding was, without doubt, the most encouraging feature of the season's cricket, and there were some excellent catches held, 57 catches in all.
The problem next season will be to ensure that it is not left to the odd two or three players to shoulder all the responsibility in a particular game, and this can only be effected by early and sustained practice throughout the season by the whole team.
N.J.P.