News & Reports
| NEWS | | | | |  | | | | | |
|
|
|
NYSD champs Middlesbrough hope for repeat performance
WITH the 2008 season just a couple
of days away another enthralling
NYSD summer is
promised, with an influx of overseas
personnel, several key players
changing clubs, and a number
of imponderables all adding up to
an intriguing mix.
Middlesbrough are once again
at the top of most people's list of
title favourites. Boro did the double
last term and have the outstanding
Chetnya Nanda back as
overseas pro'. Nanda has enjoyed
a successful winter at home in
India where he helped Delhi win
the Ranji Trophy.
Alex Roberts is currently playing
with Essex and at the moment
the Acklam Park outfit have not
engaged a professional replacement,
but they have signed the
2007 League Player of the Year,
Paul Johnston, who has joined
from Hartlepool.
Northallerton raced out of the
blocks last time with ten straight
victories, but then faded as they
only won two of their remaining
16 games to eventually finish as
runners up.
They have a new overseas recruit
in Shreyas Khanolkar who
has just finished playing in the Indian
Cricket League for Mumbai
under the captaincy of Brian
Lara. He has a first class batting
average of 31 and also bowls off
spin.
With no other new players in,
Jerry Hall retiring and Doug Mulholland
moving to pastures new,
there would seem to be increasing
reliance on the evergreen Jon
Barnes who will no doubt be
charging up his batteries for another
500 overs.
Barnesy' joined a very exclusive
club of cricketers at any level
when he broke through the career
double barrier of 10,000 runs and
1,000 wickets during the course of
last season.
Great Ayton, champions in
2006, nearly pulled off a remarkable
second half comeback last
year but eventually had to settle
for a commendable third spot,
their continuing success built on
the back of the wicket taking exploits
of Riaz Afridi, who took his
league tally to 199 in just two seasons.
With Chris Batchelor emerging
as a very reliable performer the
club were quick to re engage both
and have a more or less stable
squad, Henry Blackett having
moved on, but Ian West, who has
headed Stokesley's bowling averages
for the last three years, coming
in.
One of the shocks last year was
the form of Guisborough - with
umpteen championships and
cups already to their credit in the
21st century they slumped alarmingly
to second bottom in 2007.
In an attempt to return to former
glories they have brought in
New Zealander Greg Todd as their
overseas player - he is on the
verge of the Kiwi's Test team and
boasts a first class batting average
of 37, as well as bowling useful
medium pace. Will McDougal also
returns to the club from Saltburn.
Marton enjoyed their first ever
senior cup success last term, and
with a fourth place finish in the
league were able to reflect on an
excellent season.
They go into the new campaign
hoping to cement their new found
status, and have brought in Mohammed
Zahid from Normanby,
and Zaheer Shabaaz from Crook
as their new pros'. With Ben
Hutchinson also joining them
from Boro, where his opportunities
were limited, they look to
have a useful squad in place.
At one time last year Normanby
Hall looked odds on for relegation
but an upsurge in form, principally
on the back of Keith
Martin's bowling, witnessed them
soar away from trouble.
With Martin available for the
full season and the acquisition of
Sri Lankan Duminda Perera they
should avoid putting themselves
through the mill this time. Perera
looks a class performer, having
played over 100 games at the highest
level - a batting average of 30
allied to healthy fast-medium
bowling makes him one to keep an
eye on.
Bishop Auckland, Richmondshire
and Hartlepool finished in
the upper reaches of mid-table in
2007 and will be looking to push on
this year. The youngsters did
Richmondshire proud and with
the experience under
their belts they are
looking for further
progress under the eye
of Sharni Dissanayake
and captain Clive
Layfield.
Hartlepool hope that the
proven abilities of Michael Gough
and Thara Gunerathna will compensate
for the blow of losing star
amateur Paul Johnston, their
only other change being the recruitment
of Richard Lloyd from
Hem Heath of the North Staffordshire
League.
Bishop Auckland welcome
back two players - Richard
Hawthorne returning from
the USA and, slightly closer
to home, Chris Sawyer
from Shildon. Gary Pratt
takes on the mantle of senior
pro' and skipper, with Dan
Conway retaining the second paid
berth.
Darlington still have some paperwork
hurdles to cross before
they can confirm their overseas
player, but the ever-reliable Neil
Pratt will continue to be a key performer.
Their squad has been
boosted by the arrival of the effervescent
Doug Mulholland from
Northallerton - if nothing else the
dressing room will be a noisier
place.
Blackhall looked to have pulled
off a great signing in Shikra
Dhawan who created such a vivid
impression at Etherley last season,
but his subsequent decision
to play in the Indian Premier
League meant he would be unavailable
until early June and the
club had to look elsewhere. Enter
Warren Smith, a South African
with a first class average of 31 in
the long form of the game and almost
50 in the limited overs stuff.
Masood Mirza comes back as
the English professional.
Newly-promoted Billingham
Synthonia have a new clubhouse
almost ready, and their intentions
are not to suffer the same
fate as a couple of years ago when
they were immediately relegated.
Nisal Randika, a Sri Lankan
with a good first class pedigree,
could prove an astute signing. The
left hander is a more than useful
bat, and his slow chinamen may
be ideally suited to his new home.
With Craig Symington from Sunderland
and Danny Nowell from
Norton also signed, the Synners
should be able to compensate for
the possible loss of the services of
Martin Cull for part of the season.
Along the coast at Marske, New
Zealander Rob Nicol returns, and
also takes over the captaincy
reins. Negotiations are still ongoing
for an English pro', but Jack
Hugill will be out for the season
with a serious knee injury.
Neighbours Redcar acknowledge
they could be in for a tough
season, and have been particularly
badly hit by Tim Hood's change
of job which will mean he is unavailable
for a significant amount
of games. Nevertheless, they have
pulled together successfully in
the past and have proven match
winner Tariq Aziz to fall back on.
In Division One it is hard to
look beyond Thornaby or Seaton
Carew for the title.
Relegated Saltburn will be
pulling out all the stops to try and
bounce back at the first time of
asking, but this is not an easy
trick as Darlington RA found out
last year. Neither Saltburn or RA
have added to their squads this
season, and with the Seasiders
having doubts about the availability
of some of their key players
they will find the going tough
again unless they can get their
best side in the field.
Match-winning bowlers tend to
be the key at this level and the
skills of Thornaby's Leigh Beaumont
and Andrew Emmerson
may hold sway, with Seaton possibly
hampered by the quality of
their own batting surface, although
they do have the much
travelled Rhys Barker as a new
weapon this term.
Elsewhere in the division Yarm
have added five players to a club
that flirted with relegation,
Stokesley will lean heavily on
some excellent young players and
have Andrew Weighell fit again
after he missed much of last season,
and Barnard Castle and
Wolviston will prove doubty adversaries
as usual.
11:18am Friday 18th April 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
