Division One Team of the Year… who’s made the cut from each club?

Liverpool’s Finn Hulbert bowled his side to promotion… has he made the team of the year?
Picture by ANGUS MATHESON

This week’s squabbling over England’s Ashes squad was merely a preamble to this, the Merseyside Cricket Online Division One Team of the Year.

The rules are simple, but worth repeating: One player from each club, in a balanced XI, with a 12th player from the bottom side. I have tried not to pick too many spinners, honest.

Selections are based on the stats, on personal experience where available and on conversations with teammates and opponents.

Overseas and county professionals are allowed, as are paid amateurs (I don’t know who gets paid and it’s none of my business). But one of the things I take into account is how players performed compared to what was expected of them.

Feel free to take it as seriously as you like. No I do not have an agenda against [insert club name].

1

Sam Heeley (Orrell Red Triangle)

589 runs @ 39.27, 3×100 • 27 wickets @ 30.15, 1×5 • 14 ct

Slightly outscored by his opening partner, Ben Mahoney, Heeley gets the nod for his three centuries and his left-arm seam, which will bolster a spin-heavy imaginary attack. The tons, against Maghull, New Brighton and Sefton Park, were his first since 2015 and all contributed to wins as Orrell sealed a return to the top flight after two years. There was also a match-winning 6/72 against Sutton – skipper the last time they were in the Prem, Heeley is still a crucial part of the team.

2

Nick Ritchie (Maghull)

619 runs @ 34.39, 1×100, 4×50 • 16 wickets @ 28.19, 1×5 • 11 ct, 1 ro

The Aussie opener more than doubled his return from 2024, rising to second in the division’s run charts. Maghull stayed above Old Xavs at the bottom thanks to picking up more bonus points on fewer wins, so it’s hard to understate the value of Richie’s 175 runs in two victories over the Woolton side. He also made runs against champions Liverpool, and against the quality spinners of S&B and New Brighton, and was a useful option with his seam bowling.

3

Joe Noctor* (Sutton)

673 runs @ 42.06, 6×50 • 12 ct

Sutton made a flying start to life in Division One, and for a while looked like mounting a promotion challenge. That fell away in a tough run of mid-season fixtures, but the skipper’s form remained consistent throughout – resulting in him topping the division’s run charts despite never quite making a century (he was nine runs away against Highfield in August). As captain he never got carried away with his side’s strong start, and a top-half finish is something to feel extremely proud of – he can lead this side, too.

4

Nathan Ashford+ (Spring View)

555 runs @ 29.21, 1×100, 2×50 • 14 wickets @ 14.00 • 11 ct, 1 st, 1 ro

It’s tempting to think of what might have been for Spring View, who led the table past the half-way stage and only dropped out of the top two in mid-August. But their final figures were up six positions, four wins and 110 points on last season, and they were a match for anyone on their day. Ashford started strongly too, with 258 runs in May – including 85 in a thumping win over Orrell Red Triangle and an unbeaten 106 in an equally dominant display against Maghull. He didn’t often keep this season but he’s shown willing, and that means he’ll be lumbered with the imaginary gloves in this side.

5

Madduma Lakmal (Highfield)

423 runs @ 28.20, 3×50 • 52 wickets @ 12.06, 4×5 • 11 ct

After eight seasons of outstanding consistency, Highfield know what they’re getting from Lakmal – namely runs and wickets. After taking over as captain on the eve of the season, Ryan Hargreaves had hoped for a promotion push – no team in the division lost fewer than their five games, but four washouts and five draws scuppered their challenge. They did win eight matches – in six of them, Sri Lankan-born Lakmal either scored a 50 or took a five-for.

6

Damitha Silva (New Brighton)

558 runs @ 34.88, 5×50 • 64 wickets @ 17.47, 7×5 • 5 ct

It was a season of transition at Rake Lane after last year’s vain struggle against relegation, but one of the constants was the role played by the Sri Lankan all-rounder. New Brighton won just two of their first 13 games – when Silva made 67 against Southport & Birkdale, then took 5/19 against Old Xaverians in May. Two months later he repeated the trick – 64 in a win over Maghull one week, 5/67 to help see off Hightown St Marys the next. Without Silva, a second successive relegation would not have been out of the question.

7

Finn Hulbert (Liverpool)

222 runs @ 15.86, 1×50 • 58 wickets @ 12.71, 1×5 • 9 ct

A signing that showed Liverpool meant business, a player who did the business all season. The former Leigh man took at least two wickets in every innings bar one and ensured Jared Clein’s first season in charge ended with Liverpool heading back to the top flight for the first time since 1999. The highlight was a spell of 8/34 against Hightown St Marys in July; with the bat, there was a 19-ball half-century in a big win at local rivals Sefton Park.

8

Gordon Bryan (Hightown St Marys)

200 runs @ 16.67, 1×50 • 37 wickets @ 12.35, 2×5 • 7 ct

In the end, Hightown did comfortably enough to ensure their survival after earning promotion last year. Their Jamaican seamer started with a bang, taking 18 wickets in May including 5/20 against Lytham, and only went wicketless three times all season (one of them a spell of just two overs). Skipper Matthew White took more wickets, while Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe had a good year as an all-rounder – but both are spinners, and this attack needs pace. It’s a cruel sport at times…

9

Bobby Wincer (Southport & Birkdale)

160 runs @ 32.00, 1×50 • 71 wickets @ 10.44, 9×5 • 3 ct, 1 ro

Plenty of new faces at Trafalgar Road after the heartbreak of relegation, but it was a (young) old favourite who impressed the most. Topping the division’s wicket charts with 71 – five ahead of his teammate, off-spinner Muhammad Kashif – the slow left-armer took nine five-fors, with only Ainsdale’s Dilanka Auwardt taking more across all the whole Comp. His best was 7/20 to demolish Sutton in July. Next year might see a more sustained promotion push from S&B – they will want Wincer to be at the heart of it.

10

Huzaifa Zubair (Sefton Park)

183 runs @ 16.64 • 61 wickets @ 12.66, 3×5 • 3 ct

The leading seamer in the Comp, full stop – an impressive display from the 21-year-old. Sefton’s attack was excellent throughout and they were rewarded with a first piece of silverware since 2013, the Ray Tyler Cup, and a promotion challenge that lasted until the final few weeks of the season. Zubair’s 61 league wickets more than doubled his own previous best and played a key part in his side’s best season since 2019 – his haul included 7/30 at Maghull and 5/38 in the reverse fixture.

11

Colin Gibson (Old Xaverians)

3 runs @ 0.38 • 49 wickets @ 15.08, 5×5 • 2 ct

Xavs put up a hell of a fight against relegation towards the end of the season, and were in with a chance of survival going into the washed-out last weekend. Key to this was spinner Gibson, who took 24 wickets in the last six matches, including three five-fors and four in a win over champions Liverpool. Xavs beat both promoted sides this season, showing what they can do when it all comes together. And every combined XI needs a number 11 – take a moment to admire that batting record. All three came in one game, a win over Lytham, when he also took a five-for.

12

Sabbir Patel (Lytham)

91 runs @ 13.00 • 61 wickets @ 14.82, 6×5 • 3 ct, 1 ro

The slow left-armer has had four clubs in seven seasons in the Comp – if he wants to make it eight, he will need to find a new one next year after Lytham decided to exit the league. As they took the first relegation spot in doing so, their player is 12th man, a decision I have given a shameful amount of thought to, relative to how many people actually care. A haul of 61 wickets was par for the course for Patel, who only went wicketless once and claimed more five-fors than everyone in the division bar Silva and Wincer.

from Merseyside Cricket Online https://ift.tt/cbofgv7