With International Tour done and dusted, UWMCC members rightfully turned their attention to Term 3 and the most important time of the year. Not Exam time as a layman might think (who goes to Uni to get a degree anyway?) but the BUCS season. Captains made plans that would soon go awry and Gemes lovingly cradled his bat as he prayed to the Cricket Gods to grant him some runs. Sadly for him the Gods were too busy listening to Stilo and ABG.
To start with let me give a brief summary of each team’s BUCs season. The season began with a 1s team making their way to the Northamptonshire County Ground for a T20 day. However, Goodyear’s men narrowly went down to a strong Birmingham side in the semi-final. Much promise but little bottle (sound familiar?). The 1s did though start the regular season strongly with a comfortable victory over Oxford, yet defeats to Nott’s Trent 1s and 2s in later games meant the 1s fell short in their promotion bid. Stand out players in the side being run machine ABG, Boringly consistent Dan Goodyear and the entire spin attack, consisting of Rhino, Mihir, Ferdi and Jarris.
While the 1s aimed high and fell short, the somewhat written off 2s led by the inspirational Rob Stileman showed all the ‘gun’ cricketers how it should be done with a collection of excellent performances. A team built on solid contributions from all who played triumphed and achieved the elusive promotion back into Div 1, in the process securing Stilo bragging rights over Goodyear for all eternity and a plethora of stories to tell his grandkids. As mentioned above every single player helped achieve this promotion but Roche, Milman, Fussey and Jonny Hall (possibly the world’s most underrated cricketer) are deserving of special mentions. Follow that Nikhil.
Meanwhile the 3s produced a strong season, putting in some good performances in finishing second in Div 3a to a very strong Aston side. Curtis put in a series of strong bowling performances, his pace and bounce in stark contrast to the probing lines and lengths of Turner who led what was a fresh dominated team ably. One hopes that lots of these players will be looking to move on to the 1s/2s squad next year and the grueling fitness regime of Mihir/Milman.
Without further ado we move onto the club’s cult heroes, the mighty 4s. With previous Captains Yeti and Jake being tough acts to follow, and with the 4s now playing in division 3b following last years promotion, one would be forgiven for thinking Ballo was out of his depth. After all we all know he is yet to sort his life out. Yet much to the surprise of many the 4s bandwagon continued to roll along nicely, Captain Bozza even struck what I am told was a stunning 40 odd. Something I am sure you are already aware of. It wasn’t quite Edouard Fox’s 17 against Cape Town CC but nothing ever will be. Gemes’ prayers went unanswered but the 4s solidified their standing as a div 3 team and now the baton falls to Rhys Probert.
The BUCs report concluded let me move onto the other club activities that took place in term 3. The MCC were comfortably dispatched yet again with Kit and Mihir excelling on the day, Kit taking 4 for not many and Mihir anchoring the chase superbly. I believe that is now 4 wins in a row against the MCC. It won’t be long until Mccullum and Sangakarra turn up to play against us, only to nick off on a cloudy day at Leam CC. Club Day at the same venue was a resounding success, I have even heard that the ECB are looking into the 3-way super over idea that was so brilliantly thought up. All club members enjoying a fun day that culminated with the President’s own 6 winning the ‘fair’ competition. To the victor the spoils, which as it turns out were mainly accusations of dodgy team selection.
Throughout the term the ever-growing Friendlies squad managed and captained by the club legend that is Sean Merriman played in various intra-university fixtures. I am certain I could not do justice to all involved were I to attempt to summarise the cricket that was played but I say with confidence that WMG and ITSlib cowered in fear as the Merriman Express thundered in to bowl. To the disappointment of the many and the delight of the few the friendlies continued the tradition of pushing the 4s close in the real game of the season but could not quite get over the line.
On the charity front the game against Faire is the XI was a great success, the Rex family turned up in their droves to support Ferdi’s endeavour and for once we were blessed with good weather. In a game that was played with a great atmosphere Jaimin showed that he could score more than a quick 20 with a blistering 50. While UWMCC ultimately won the game that was of little importance as what really mattered was the money that was raised for a good cause. I am sure I speak for all when I say I hope something similar can be arranged for next year.
The year ended with Sports Ball, and this year rain did not stop play and thankfully we were not confined to an AV kitchen. Much to the dismay of everyone UWMCC did not win Club of the Year, but more importantly Guj behaved himself and it was a great night to end what I believe has been a great year.
Without wishing to be too gushing it is with a heavy heart that I come to the end of my final termly report, UWMCC formed the basis of my time at Warwick and I along with all the other leavers will miss it. Yet the club is in more than capable hands and I am sure UWMCC will continue to thrive. It goes without saying that I wish Dan and all of next year’s exec the best of fortune! Here’s hoping that this time next year we will have two teams in Division 1.
Bex out.
*mic drop*