2006 was another very successful season for the Colts Section.  2 age groups finishing up winners of their league, another finished runners-up and the 4^th age group finished mid-table. It is great to see the improvement in ability of every player year on year and it has been extremely enjoyable to watch. The most pleasing feature has been the spirit in which they have played the game of cricket, as individuals but more importantly as a team.

Tonight we will be presenting awards for the U17s, then the U11s, then the U15s, then the U13s, and finally the Colt Player of the Year award. In each age group there will be an award for Best Batting, Best Bowling and Most Improved. These awards will be presented by the man on my right – Rick Tebb - hands up those people who know what Rick’s job is at this Club? He is the Club groundsman, and Rick spends many hours each week cutting, rolling, preparing and marking out the ground and pitch area to allow practice and matches to be held, so let’s show our appreciation of all Rick’s hard work.

We also have a new award for each age group, the best team player, and these will be presented by Ron White who played at the Club in the 1960s and helped build the bar cellar and has donated some of the prizes, so a big thanks to Ron.

U/17

I’ll now pass you over to the manager of the U17s, Chris Kirk, who will review the U17s season. 

Report to be inserted 

Best Bat – James Stead

Best Bowl – Tony Sayers

Most Improved – Duncan Pearce

Best Team Player – Matthew Fletcher

I like to personally thank Chris for his efforts in managing the team. Chris has been manager of a team now for a number of years and is still prepared to manage another team next season. He is also the Club’s child welfare officer and does a lot of work behind the scenes in ensuring everything is in order so a big round of applause for Chris.

U/11

I’ll now pass you over to the manager of the U11s, Barend Velleman, who will review the U11s season.

Report to be inserted 

Best Bat – Brad Sayers

Best Bowl – Nayan Patel

Most Improved – Morgan Holmes

Best Team Player – Liron Velleman

This was Barend’s first season as manager of a team and they were very successful, and Barend is keen to manage the U13s next season so a big round of applause to Barend.

U/15

I’ll now pass you over to the manager of the U15s, Richard Blaby, who will review the U15s season.

Report to be inserted 

Best Bat – Matthew Shore

Best Bowl – Sam Barker

Most Improved –  Daniel Smith

Best Team Player – Akash Singh

Special Award – Hat-trick  - Daniel Smith

This was Richard’s first season as manager of a team. He also took over the running of the U15 indoor league last winter. He was at the ground every Tuesday night helping on practice nights. He will be managing the U15s again next season so a big thank you to Richard.

U/13

The U13s had a very successful 2006 winning their league and going through the league season undefeated. Like the U11s the U13s went up a division this season and the competition was stiffer, with all the games being close matches and being very exciting to watch. They had a very strong batting line-up and in almost every match they batted first and piled on the runs to leave the opposition a tough target to chase.

Four players, Ian Cooper, Priyesh Patel, Joseph Barker and George Eldred scored over 100 runs for the season. Their captain, Ian Cooper was the outstanding batsman for the team. He scored 375 runs at a Bradmanesque average of 125. You may have read at some time during the summer about the trials and tribulations of Michael Vaughan’s knee, but here at Cockfosters we were only interested in the state of Ian Cooper’s knee, as when he was on holiday in France we received news that he was hospitalised with a damaged knee and that his season was over and the manager started to have sleepless nights. Miraculously he re-appeared one day, on crutches, stating he would be fit to play the next week and sure enough everything became right with the world when he turned out in the next match.    Ian wins the Best Batting award – unfortunately he is on holiday so isn’t here to collect his award.

All the U13s players can bowl and in many matches all 10 bowled 2 overs each managing to restrict the opposition batsman from reaching their target and 12 players in all achieved at least 1 league wicket. One bowler took almost double the wickets of any other bowler. This bowler, was quite a revelation this season, as he didn’t take any wickets last year, but finished with 9 wickets this season. Most of his wickets were bowled because he bowls straight, wicket to wicket, and he has a nice high action, something which he has been coached to do by Chris Stead, who plays for Herts. County. The Best Bowling award goes to Christian Teale.

All the players improved their cricket skills as the season progressed. The Most Improved Player award goes to a player who in the past has had more success bowling than batting, however this season, when their captain was unavailable, his batting came to the fore and he scored 240 runs for the season, having a top score of 85 and in some matches he dominated the game whilst he was at the batting crease and that was Priyesh Patel.

The Team Player award goes to a player who is extremely enthusiastic on the field, always encouraging his teamates and has a fierce desire for the team to do well.   He contributes to the team in all areas, batting, bowling and fielding and plays with  his heart on his sleeve and that is Joseph Barker.

Thanks

Helpers on practice nights, Mark Sayers, Chris Edwards,  Chris Stead,  Sam Penny,  Richard Blaby, Pete Phillips,  Simon Westbury, Nitin Gupta, Barend Velleman, Patrick Barker, Tracey Sayers and anyone else I’ve forgotten.

Thanks for Dee for her catering tonight.

Parents and supporters of the Club and look forward to seeing you all next season.

Colt Player of the Year

This player has come through the ranks of the Colts section and started when Rick was managing the Colts in the late 90s. He lives and breathes cricket and practices non-stop and he told me this year he wants to become a professional cricketer. He was highly instrumental in the U17s winning the league last season and has played a big part in their success this season, both with the bat and ball. At senior level he is now the opening bowler for our 1^st eleven and is a major reason why the 1^st eleven are top of the league at this stage of the season.

The Colt Player of the Year Award goes to Matthew Stead.