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

Ainsdale’s Dilanka Auwardt took 106 wickets in the league… is he in the Team of the Year?
Picture by ROGER GREEN

It’s that time of year again… with no cricket until April, what better way to spend the next few months than arguing about the Merseyside Cricket Online Division Two 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

Ryan Donnelly+ (St Helens Town)

494 runs @ 29.06, 2×50 • 29 ct, 3 st

Newly relegated Town did not win a league game until July, then won six of their last 12 to finish sixth – only the top two won more over the same period. Through it all, opener and wicketkeeper Donnelly was a bastion of consistency – he never went more than two innings without making double figures, and his runs return was his best since 2014 (when he played twice as many games). And his 32 dismissals behind the stumps were the best in all three divisions.

2

Liam Sherriff (Southport Trinity)

583 runs @ 34.29, 2×100, 3×50 • 1 wicket @ 19.00 • 13 ct, 1 ro

It was a tough season for Trinity, kept off the bottom only by winless Prestatyn, who accounted for two of their four victories. Aussie opener Sherriff was a bright spot though, with early season centuries against Whitefield and Northop Hall, and 81 in the first of those wins over Prestatyn. While his form tailed off as the weather turned, he was still his side’s leading run scorer by more than 200 runs.

3

Harsh Shonak (Prescot & Odyssey)

1,089 runs @ 72.60, 2×100, 7×50 • 8 ct, 2 ro

Speaking of people who were their side’s leading scorer by a long way… take a bow, Harsh Shonak, who topped newly promoted P&O’s charts by more than 700 runs. For a spell in July and August, the former Rainford man made 496 runs in five innings, two of them unbeaten. And in four knocks against the promoted sides, he scored 96, 71*, 91* and 84 – a right-hander averaging 171 against two top-class left-arm spinners (see below). P&O finished fifth, an impressive showing after a step up – Shonak was their biggest upgrade by far.

4

Nathan Condon (Fleetwood Hesketh)

811 runs @ 45.06, 10×50 • 30 wickets @ 19.17, 2×5 • 10 ct, 2 ro

It didn’t take long for the New Zealander to impress captain Andy Bate, who was delighted with the professionalism he brought to training. There were tangible results on the field as well, with eight half-centuries in his first 11 innings. His seam bowling took a little longer to hit the groove but he took 11/58 across two matches against Whitefield, and seldom went wicketless from a spell of any real length. Hesketh finished fourth with 10 wins – they had a lot to thank Condon for.

5

Naveed Saleh (Parkfield Liscard)

521 runs @ 37.21, 5×50 • 25 wickets @ 20.56 • 7 ct

Recruited from Wavertree to bolster the Wirral side’s top order, Saleh fulfilled his brief. A hoped-for assault on the top half never materialised but the off-spinning all-rounder proved a versatile and dependable player. There were four half-centuries in his first six innings, three of them unbeaten – those numbers were difficult to maintain, but he topped the club’s charts by a decent margin at the same time as offering a wicket-taking option with the ball.

6

Adam Brown (Caldy)

396 runs @ 23.29, 2×50 • 30 wickets @ 20.17, 1×5 • 5 ct

Good returns with both disciplines for the seam-bowling all-rounder – just outside the top 20 for runs, just inside it for wickets. Caldy’s promotion challenge fell by the wayside earlier than last season’s, which was less heartbreaking at least, but Brown saved his best for later in the season, making 70 at Norley Hall and 87 at Southport Trinity, and taking 5/50 at Fleetwood Hesketh.

7

Ryan Wood (Norley Hall)

408 runs @ 29.14, 4×50 • 48 wickets @ 14.46, 4×5 • 5 ct

In a spin-dominated division, Wood stood out – no seamer took more wickets at a better strike rate than his 26.02. His highlights were a spell of 5/7 that demolished Parkfield Liscard, match-winning 5-fors against Caldy and Wavertree and a 22-over effort against Southport Trinity that yielded 7/63. And his runs from down the order often bailed his side out of trouble.

8

Dilanka Auwardt (Ainsdale)

251 runs @ 31.38, 1×50 • 106 wickets @ 9.72, 14×5 • 7 ct

Well, look. He took 106 wickets. One hundred and six. I could have been a bit clever here and gone for another member of Ainsdale’s title-winning side; there were plenty of candidates. But the Sri Lankan slow left-armer was the main reason Ainsdale won so many games, which is the main reason they won the league. He took 14 five-fors along the way and never went wicketless; the high points were many, but 9/74 against Norley Hall (the other one was a run-out) stands out. Ainsdale want to bring him back next year – watch out, Division One.

9

Rob Magee (Whitefield)

250 runs @ 13.89 • 55 wickets @ 12.91, 4×5 • 2 ct

Here’s one for you: In all three divisions, among bowlers with at least 20 wickets, who had the best strike rate? If you answered “Whitefield leggie Rob Magee” then it’s probably because you put two and two together, there was only one reason I’d possibly be asking that question underneath his name. Signed from Runcorn as an experienced foil to rookie skipper Ben Ashcroft, Magee responded with his most productive season ever. His 6/22 settled a blood-and-thunder Knowsley derby with Prescot & Odyssey, and he only went wicketless twice. He often failed at the top of the order, so I have demoted him here, but he couldn’t be left out.

10

Ben Smith* (Wavertree)

138 runs @ 11.50 • 28 wickets @ 20.07 • 2 ct

Firstly, he is the closest thing to a captain in this XI (he even took over pre-season interview duties from Theo O’Brien) so he can step up here. Secondly, Smith led Wavertree’s attack well, topping the wicket charts and claiming at least three scalps on six occasions – usually of the opposition’s top order batters. There were match-winning four-fors against Whitefield and Parkfield Liscard – he may not have managed a five, but he did his job and more.

11

Paul Jenkins (Northop Hall)

78 runs @ 26.00 • 90 wickets @ 11.17, 9×5 • 6 ct

Possibly the best bit of recruitment in the whole Comp last winter, persuading the veteran slow left-armer to return to where it all began was a masterstroke. Topping 100 wickets in all competitions was a first even for him, while nobody in the league bowled more overs or more maidens. Like Auwardt, he didn’t go wicketless once; for all his five-fors, his most remarkable spell was possibly his 4/1 in four overs against Prestatyn. As with Ainsdale, other players contributed to the Welshmen’s promotion; as with Ainsdale, it’s impossible to look past the spinner.

12

Andy Taylor (Prestatyn)

596 runs @ 33.11, 1×100, 4×50 • 15 ct

One of the rules of these things is that the twelfth man always comes from the bottom side, which is probably quite unfortunate for Taylor, who did little wrong. This was his best return with the bat, but the side’s problems could not be solved by one man, however consistent. Against Southport Trinity in May, he made 127 out of 201 – Trinity knocked them off one down. Lytham’s withdrawal from the Comp means Prestatyn will be back in Division Two next year – they need a few more players like Taylor.

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