What a lovely way to end the season last Saturday. As I arrived at the resplendent looking Green, youngsters were playing in the nets, there must have been well over 100 people in and around the pavilion, socialising, enjoying a barbeque prepared by one of our champion 1st XI players, and the day was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the achievements of all our teams this summer, and the individual awards earned by our standout players. A true community afternoon, and one that made me proud to be President of this great club.

Let’s review the season;

The 1st XI won Division 2 of the KCVL, the most competitive division in the league with only 62 points separating 2nd and 9th places, a worthy achievement and will take their place back in Division 1 in 2025. Led by Hugh Bryant, the title was clinched on the last day of the season at Cudham Wyse. Huge congratulations to the whole team for their contribution, but especially to Mark Lewis-Ranwell with 747 runs, the most in the division, and Matt Innes with 33 league wickets, also the most in the division.

The 2nd XI led by Andy Bryant, finished a credible 5th in Division 5. Bear in mind that we were the only team to regularly field juniors, and but for a number of very narrow defeats, a higher position could so easily have been achieved. Leading the way with most runs (268) and wickets (21) was the evergreen Mark Sheppard. For anyone that has watched the 2nd XI play, their on field spirit is simply tremendous.

Our Sunday XI suffered more defeats than triumphs, largely because it’s a vehicle to blood the rich young talent we have within our ranks, but you will find that anyone who played under skipper Matt Innes, would have had an enjoyable afternoon. And boy did our youngsters do us proud, very fitting that the Player of the Year went to u15 player Stanley Holyoake who scored the most runs (189) and expertly plied his budding trade with the gloves behind the stumps.

The club has a long tradition of developing its own talent, the 1st XI most weeks fields 9-10 players that started life as a junior at the club. And that tradition looks set to continue, judging by the achievements of our junior teams in 2024.

For the first time since its inception in 2002, our Under 15s won the Medway Youth Cricket League, remaining unbeaten all season. Considering that all of our competitors come from the illustrious Kent League, this is a fine achievement. Our standout batters were captain John Knowles and Stanley Holyoake. And our leading wicket taker was Dylan Wade. But this was about every player that made a contribution and got us over the line when it mattered. And again the on field team spirit was tremendous.

A young Under 13 eleven finished in a credible mid table position, winning 5 games and losing 5. But some fine talent exists in this group. Too many names to mention here, including some very talented young ladies, but I make a special note of James Baldwin who scored 238 runs, only being dismissed 5 times, an average of 48, and made his first appearances for the Sunday XI.

Our Under 11 hardball team had an incredible campaign, remaining unbeaten across 11 league and cup games, therefore winning the league and cup double, in what must be a first for the club. Having witnessed them destroy Lordswood in the cup final, with a maturity beyond their tender years, it was a proud moment, and testament to the hard work put in by the ‘magnificent 8’ players, and their coach Simon Bowden. It was a tougher campaign for the Under 11 softball team with only one solitary win to enjoy this summer, but everyone will have gained experience across the summer, and we expect to see the benefit of that in 2025.

I have to pay a personal thanks to Pete Cavender and all of our volunteer coaches, across all the age groups, for their tireless commitment and dedication to helping youngsters learn their craft, across both the winter and summer months. The results achieved this season are testament to your efforts.

Our annual tour took place in August, as 17 of us took the short flight to Dublin, to play 3 games against Merrion CC, Civil Service CC and Terenure CC. We won 2 games and lost 1, which was some achievement given the off field excesses partaken by most of the party! My best memory was the incredibly warm welcome and hospitality offered by our Irish hosts. We will be doing it all again in 2025, venue to be announced soon.

I would like to end by saying a heartfelt thank you to the many people that play their part in making Meopham CC great. From our unsung grounds team that prepare the Green each week, our regular tea makers Angela and Emily, the occasional tea makers, those that have served behind the bar, the committee that make everything work, all the parents that taxi their kids across the county each week, our 1st XI umpire Gaz, anyone that has scored a game, worked the scoreboard, and anyone else that I’ve forgotten.

End season work parties will require your further support in October, and it all starts again with winter nets and coaching in January!

Cheers
Tony