To be honest our season can be summed up entirely with the use of one of the oldest sayings in cricket.... "Catches win matches" (or even promotions!). There were many other contributing factors to our poor season of course. Unavailability of players in both teams didn't help, our batsmen never really came to terms with the damp pitches we encountered during more than half the games in the season, the bowling was inconsistent throughout and the desire to grind out results was sometimes lacking, but all of these failings would have been overshadowed or even erased if we had just hung on to our chances. Between us we spilled ten catches in that opening match against Wicken which allowed

them to pile up over three hundred runs. Taking our catches would have won us that game and taken us forward with the confidence that is so vital to a successful campaign. Nobody expects to go through a season without the odd dropped catch and of course sometimes they will be crucial but I don't think it is any exaggeration to state that the chances we put down this season could have cost us as many as four wins. Four wins that could have seen us finish in third place in the division and which would have brought a confidence to the team which could have lead to promotion. As it turned out of course we ended up needing our win at Rushden on the last day to secure our place in division three for 2008.

Anyway lets forget the would've, could've and should've beens and look back on the positive things to come out of the 2007 season.

One of the biggest plus points for me has to be our opening attack. After an indifferent first season with the club last year Mike Duddle seized his chance during 2007. After a tight spell in another score of three hundred plus at Horton, Mike never looked back. He bowled with control and intelligence on varying surfaces throughout the season and gave me enough confidence to be able to throw him the ball at almost any point in a match and know that he would keep things tight and invariably get wickets. (Maybe next year he will master that cut shot!) At the other end we had the bearded wonder, David Clarkson. After a slow start to the season David's confidence was boosted by a very good spell during the Chairman's v President’s game. The second half of the season saw him bowl with real aggression and pace and watching him rough up and bowl out eventual champions Raunds with a terrific spell of 5 for 28 from 10 overs was one of the real highlights of the year. Congratulations also go to David for making his first team debut at Isham. As he gets older, bigger and stronger I have no doubt he will be forcing his way in to a regular first team slot. Batsmen beware if he ever grows in to those feet!

The majority of our wickets were taken by our spin quartet. Adrian, Andy, Simon and Dave. Having six bowlers in the team seemed perfect at first but it became very difficult to give all of them enough overs, or games. Dave was usually the one to miss out which was unfortunate and his seasons tally of 17 wickets at 17.00 from only 70 overs indicates that maybe he should have played more games and bowled more overs. However, I stand by the decisions I made regarding selection and distribution of overs.

It would be easy for me to say that Ade produced his usual consistent performances throughout the season but that really wouldn't do him justice. In my opinion Ade bowled better this season than any other I can remember. He didn't seem to lose his accuracy at any time and I think it would be fair to say that his figures would have been much better if he hadn't suffered more than anyone at the hands of our fielders. He is yet again a worthy recipient of the bowling award. Simon and Andy both had very good all round seasons. They both played some vital innings with the bat and both produced match winning performances with the ball. Given the form of all these players it is clear why we had problems with team selection when everyone was available.

On the batting front, to be honest there isn't a great deal to enthuse about. Paul Jones batted as well as he has for a few years and his 93 against Podington was the innings of the season. Tim was as consistent as ever but only played half the games due to holidays, bad weather and playing in the first team. Simon and Andy both had good seasons as I mentioned before but other than that it was a disappointing season for the rest of us. It is easy to blame the weather but it really didn't help that the ball wasn't coming on to the bat during most of the games and also it was difficult to find any continuity. This was another reason, I feel, why we finished as low as we did. After a poor start we pulled things around with three consecutive wins only for the weather to deny us a fourth against Rushton and the chance of a game against a weakened Rushden side two weeks later. The momentum was broken and it was almost like starting again when August came and we finally got some dry weather. We were also denied the chance of vctory against Bowden (by the weather not the wicket keeper!!!!). These were all games where 2 points could quite easily have been 20. Of course I know that we made things difficult for ourselves with our inconsistent performances and I am not making excuses but these are all things that contributed to a disappointing season.

Looking forward to next year, surely things can only get better. With the likely strengthening of the squad of players in the club I will again start the season full of hope that we can be in the mix and pushing for promotion. One thing is certain. It won't be dull. It never is!

Thanks must go to John Hodges for producing some fantastic wickets this season and also to all those involved in making our ground one of the best in the county league. It is such a pleasure to play cricket at Wollaston. Thanks also go to Judy for her immaculate scoring and to Paul and Andrea Clarkson who stepped in whenever Judy was away. It couldn't have been easy keeping up during some our early games! Thanks of course to Ade for his support and encouragement as vice captain.

Finally I would like to offer my congratulations to Harmit and all those who played in the first team on winning promotion to the premier division. I know I speak for everyone in the second team and indeed the whole club in saying that we are all immensely proud of what you have achieved and wish you more success next year.

Brett Hanson