COUNTY 2 PROMOTION RACE WIDE OPEN THIS YEAR

Another Season Another Prediction -

Chiv's prediction for County 2 this year with the help of some of the County 2 skippers, Hythe Players and other Hampshire Members.

I thank them all for giving us their feedback.

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Basingstoke III finished second in County 3 last season with a 13-2 record. Much of their success was largely due to West Indian bowler R.Bowen who Simon Jones regarded as the best bowler in league. He took 45 wickets @ 10.27 and was well supported by skipper Ali Pearson who took 32 wickets @ 14.50. Simon says ' they bowl accurately on their own surface, which is of good quality'

Basingstoke's main batting was held together by Steve Dummer who averaged 46.44 scoring 418 runs assisted by Nick Arnold who scored 311 runs off 10 innings. As a third eleven they did very well but the question has to be will they be able to repeat the same this time round.

Simon says ' we had them 60 for 5 chasing 180 but they batted sensibly in the middle and ended up getting home with the last pair in the last over (tight run out) - a bit more reliant on individuals, but they are a 3rd team - mid table prediction

Finished a respectable 8th last season with a 7-8 record. Chris Mepham topped the batting averages scoring 346 runs @ 69.20. Nick Creal took an impressive 41 wickets @ 13.20 and Martin Bunday 26 @ 17.10.

Club with a good Colts set up and I have heard from Matt @ Cadnam that they have boosted their first team squad quite considerably this season which should filter down to the 2's.

Whats life going to be like without Ben Green for Cadnam who guided them to a 4th place finish and winners of the New Forest Presidents Cup !!! Green was the leagues leading run maker last season scoring 726 and finishing with an average of 59.69. He also chipped in with 38 wickets @ 11.02 and who Dixie described him as rapid.

Paul Kerley also chipped in with 21 wickets and Ian Costin 15. Kerley also averaged 30 with the bat.

So how has Matt Maiden's strengthend the side for this season - In comes Aussie Sean Durston-Ryan who opened his account with his first ever century against Fawley last weekend. Cadnam have also recruited Sarfraz Sahib from Ampfield. Sarfraz last season topped the Ampfield batting averages with 317 runs from 9 innings @ 45.29. He also took 13 wickets @ 26.1

Paul Jewer captains the side this season.

Matt's Prediction for Top 3 - Langley Manor - Burridge - East Tytherley. Think Matt's being cautious

Hats off to East Tytherley - the real carrot crunchers of Hampshire Cricket who deserve a lot of credit after gaining a third consecutive promotion after finishing third last season.

George Harris scored 544 runs in 13 innings last year to finish third in the batting averages but a lot will depend on influencial skipper Will Edwards with bat and ball and Richard Kersey who topped the County 3 bowling averages with 26 wickets @ 9.77 off 101 overs.

Simon Jones believes they have great confidence through 2 outstanding seasons and winning - but he believes they will be found out this time round if they don't improve their squad - Quirky ground with 2 out of 4 sides short (straight and square) assists big scores - Simon Predicts bottom 6/relegation

Surprisngly finished 6th last year with a 6-6 record after they were very poor against us.

Aaron Barker was the only batsman to make the divisions top 20 - scoring 397 runs @ 33.10.

Always think they're better on their own ground which assists then as they are a stronger batting side than bowling.

Skipper Phil Turner says ' realistically same as last year for us 6-7th, have got rid of some of the older players to the 2nds

Flamingo finshed bottom of County 1 last season and were relegated despite wining their last 3 matches.

Matt Gover topped their battng averages with 389 runs @ 32.42 whilst Steve Wright topped the bowling with 25 wickets @ 20.68..

New Fawley skipper Dave Streather says ' Flamingos are very much a hot and cold team and I believe it depends on availability. Jason Dodd’s is a very useful batter but when he misses they are noticeably weaker and didn't play at all in 2008. I would say a fairly weak bowling attack with no real surprises there strength is batting and fairly sharp in the field. I think on the whole not a bad side and when there younger players come through completely, will be strong, still a reasonable club but the loss of Shapland to Romsey and availability really hit them hard.

Dave's prediction they're unpredictable - top 6.

Finished 9th last year with a 9-9 record including beating us by 46 runs.

Lahiru Don was very much the main player in their team scoring 401 runs @ 26.73 as well as taking 30 wickets @ 17.60. Chris Mottola too scored over 300 runs whist Sequira took 25 wickets.

Skipper Chris Mottola said the main problem last year was that we never had the same team out two weeks running. However Chris is confident that they could push for promotion this year. 'We have some good new young bowlers and a good bowling unit, so if we play to our full strengths we will be a match for anyone'.

Chris Mottola's Prediction for Top 3 - Hamble A.S.S.C - Ellingham - U.S.Portsmouth II

Finished 14th last year with a 5-8 record. Before we played them on the 23rd August they looked dead and buried.

23 points against us certainly keep them up plus the help of Aussie Matthew Mangan who scored 466 runs @ 42.36

Lovely ground deserved of County 2 cricket but they will need the support of another overseas if they are to survive this time round.

Finished 5th last year with a 9-5 recod. Roy Peters topped the County 2 bowling averages taking 24 wickets @ 10.58, well supported by Craig Renders (4th) 28 @ 12.18. Graham Noble also took 18 wickets @ 15.17. None of the batsman made the top 20 though they achieved more batting points than bowling.

Skipper Jamie Noble is full of confidence for this year - ' We've picked up a couple of new uni students from Essex who look very good bats. Hopefully injury free this should be our year'.

Surely this season must see them get promoted. A ground that deserves top grade cricket.

Jamie's Prediction for Top 3 - Langley Manor - East Tytherley - Old Basing

The rumours across the Forest is that Lymington (relegated last year) have a number of players returning to the fold. This must make them one of the leading candidates for promotion and my thoughts are echoed by Peter Wakefield at New Milton.

Dave Streather says ' Lymington two’s are pretty strong I thought - quite an old team but some good players. Rather more built on past success than current and they got pretty much as deserved I think this year average age well in there 40’s and did not seem to have much young blood which was very disappointing when you see the strength of the colts. Mike O'Brien of Eastleigh & Otterbourne disagreed. Mike said ' Lymington were very poor against us'

Dangerous team on a sunny day with a good wicket, real quality batters in top 4 just a bit too old. Dave's Prediction - Promotion

Simon Naylor shares Dave's thoughts. Simon says ' Wer'e looking forward to the new season. Our 1's have attracted a few new players which will hopefully mean the 2's will be stronger'.

Won County 3 last year with a 13-1 record. Old Basing reached 86 batting points by the end of the season which along with Midhurst was the highest scored in the 4 county divisions.

Simon Jones the Bishop Waltham skipper says 'their a good side of maturing young players. Last season they had a good balance of youth and experience, plenty of ability and confidence that comes from winning. In the Willock brothers they have two very good all rounders aged about 20.- top 6/promotion i reckon

Richard Willcock topped the County 3 batting averages @ 88.13 whilst and also took 32 wickets, whilst Nick Willcock scored 351 runs @ 31.91. Darren Turner finished 6th in the bowling averages chipping in with 30 wickets and Dev Vyas 25.

Their battings strong too - in Daniel Belcher they have a guy who scored 4 centuries last season scoring 828 runs and an average of 63.69 (Get him early Weallo)

Everyone expected them to struggle in County 1 and though they won 5 matches Pylewell failed to beat the drop by finishing 16th.

This despite the sterling efforts of Clive Kitcher who finished 10th in the bowling averages taking 31 wickets @ 15.13.

Dave Streather had this to say ' Pylewell I thought were really poor and there results reflected it. I could not see how they got promoted with what I saw on show.

One good player who opens the batting and bowls some spin young guy but apart from that all very average. Daves' Prediction - mid table

Andy Snellgrove 13 wickets @ 16.85 and Steve Dyer Smith 17 wickets @ 17.65 both made it into the Bowling top 20.

Veteran Skipper Peter Wakefield says ' I have no idea how we are going to do this year - again it depends on who's available for the 1s, how many new players, overseas etc. I think we will do well to match our 7th place last season - so mid table. Overall I think the best sides went up last season, with another 6/7 of us there or there abouts.

Peter's Prediction for Top 3 - Lymington & Langley Manor then any of from about 6 clubs.

I expected Purbrook to do better than their 15th position. The game against us was close and could have gone either way.

Andy Holder who captains the side this year, scored 338 runs @ 37.56 and Chris Berry averaged 27. The bowling once again depended on the ever reliable Graham McCoy took 23 wickets @ 15.61

Ropley finished a disappointing 16th last time out with a 6-7 record when we all expected a bit from them from the experts this time last year. They struggled with the bat gaining only 54 points in the process.

Mark Munday finished 5th last season in the bowling averages taking 26 wickets @ 13.08.

Much the same this year unless they register an overseas player i'm afraid.

Finished 13th last season with a 6-9 record skipper which would have pleased skipper Stuart Cruse who at the begining of the season didn't expect a lot from his young side. Against us they beat us well and I thought they looked a decent side especially as Cruse was injured and batted low down the order plus key all rounder James Stormonth arrived late and went in a number 7.

Shrewtons 2nd XI won promotion from NW 3 last season so they will be hoping some of those youngsters will be ready for the step up into the firsts.

12th place finish last term with a 6-8 record. A position which was higher than most expected after their terrible season the year before.

With lovely facilities the club need to make sure that their 2nd string doesn't drop any lower in divisions.

Tom Lewis 217 runs off of 10 innings made it into the top 20 batsman at 18 whilst Andy Taylor had a good season with the ball finishing 6th in the bowling averages taking 25 @ 14.30.

New Skipper Mick Rose says he's quite confident for the new season with several new players in the club.

With a £200 membership or £75 plus £10 match fee - it must be difficult to attract new players.

Take a wiser person than me to predict where the Green Caps will finish this year and after a testing pre season where only a few people shone through it makes it even more harder to predict.

To replace the quality of Whitlock and Kendrick will take time and last season was the first for many years that none of the bowlers made it into the Hampshire averages.

The bowling which is expected to be our shortfall I think could be our strength. Pre season newcomer Rob Saunders looked decent whilst with Jon Weall (who looked very impressive) and the ever reliable Rich Froggett will give us a good grounding. Mike Edwards first spell at Totton was well worth a recall and Matt Howe impressed against Eastleigh. With Wrighty as well and players in the 2's such as Ian Prentice, Buncey and Russell Moore waiting to prove themselves (if the selection committee works properly) there's reasons for optimisim.

Batting which is supposed to be our strength is a concern and will need to click quickly. Too many times we rely on top batsman Rob James. The talented Matt Howe should improve on last seasons return and James Page pre season has shown that he is well worth his first team place. What I don't see is where the big hitting / acceleration mid innings is going to come from. Normally by the time people like Rich Froggett / Kev James get in, who can do this, its too late. But you never know we might just surprise.

Prediction - What i'd give to see my club in County 1 but it won't be next year. - Old Basing, Langley Manor and outside tip Shrewton

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