WHCC 2nd Eleven
2013 End of Year Report
There is that old sporting cliché that says the table doesn’t lie. However, I wonder how many
captains would have taken 70 points as safety in any relegation battle. Such was the nature of
competitiveness in the 2nd Eleven second division. At the end of the day it boiled down to losing key
moments in games, but we still have a lot to be optimistic about.
David French (31.43)returned to WHCC this year and fast became a key man in the games played,
often being called upon by his captain to slow the opposition scoring or lead the tail in pursuit of a
good target. The most noticeable batting performance of 87 coming at the Bank of England when
the team was 11 for 3 wickets. Mark Worgan(308 runs @25.67) continued to be the leading run
scorer for the 2s with another good season, although a little below his previous season standards.
Mark’s reliability upfront often got the team off to a good start but an indifferent season for the
middle order meant we did not capitalise sufficiently to win more key games. This year we were also
joined by Saul Allison and after a slow start soon found form in the game against Purley, scoring a
solid 83. Saul will undoubtedly score more runs at this level as he gets used to the sporting culture at
WHCC. As players got the opportunity to play more at 1s level the 2s welcomed more players to its
squad. After solid performances in the 3s Arun Aiyer joined the 2s and soon found his feet, becoming
a key player, often relied upon to take wickets at crucial times in a game. Next season shows huge
promise for Arun as it does the younger generation in Abdul Zaffar and Angus Hargan. Both had an
indifferent season to be fair but demonstrated huge potential. Abdul having the golden arm and
potential to make the tail wag as demonstrated at Addiscombe with a fine 58n.o. Young Angus
showed promise at Worcester Park with a fine 65 and followed this up against Old Rutlishians with a
30no in supporting Qais Nawas (61). However, the player of the season was Indi Fernando. Indi could
always be found at practice, be the first to arrive at games and help out in the match day tasks. He
approached every game with an outward joy to be playing cricket and this soon showed in his
performance and rise to be a key player in the final 1st team game, taking 5 wickets. Indi is certainly
a great example and reminder of how to play sport in the spirit it’s intended.
In summary, yes we got relegated and that is disappointing but the potential in this side is too great
for this to be more than a blip. The team will have grown and learnt from this season. I could never
fault the spirit in the team and know that next season will see a return to better fortunes.