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Report on the Surrey Trust League 20062006 promised to be the year when the League ‘grew up’. Having started with just a handful of clubs in 2003 it had rapidly grown and now 32 Clubs were set to compete for the title in four geographically arranged zones. This would necessitate a system of play offs to reach the main and the plate finals. Therefore the winners of each zone played a semi-final to reach the Main Final and the runners up went through a similar process to reach the Plate Final. Other changes would see the Finals Day held at a different venue with Purley having splendidly played host for the first two seasons. It was however now felt that holding the Finals at a club who had two squares would allow the Plate Final to be played simultaneously over the full 40 overs rather than being limited to a Twenty 20 match in the morning. Beddington, having won the Trophy in its first two years, was seen as the natural choice. The League’s Organisation had also had to double in size (from one person to two!) which meant in reality that Eric Sands had now taken over the administration producing a splendid handbook, managing all of the fixtures and the results. It says a lot for Eric’s energy and commitment as well as the diligent attitude taken by the club organisers that the management of the League went so smoothly. THE ZONAL PHASE
The season proceeded without any problems with the usual cancellations and rearrangements caused by the wet start to the summer being efficiently managed. The new clubs appeared to be settling in well and most achieved success. By the end of the zone phase the following teams had progressed to the semi-finals: Winners of Zone A: Spencer lost to the winners of Zone B: Leatherhead Winners of Zone C: Farncombe lost to the winners of Zone D: Beddington
Runners up Zone A: Old Rutlishians beat the runners up from Zone B: Ashtead Runners up Zone C: Horley lost to runners up from Zone D: Purley
FINALS DAY
Beddington proved to be tremendous hosts with the weather once again relenting to provide a blustery but warm and sunny day. In the main final Leatherhead lost early wickets before establishing a series of solid partnerships leading up to a decent score of 158 on a wicket that (following a week of wretched weather) would always give both batters and bowlers a chance. In reply Beddington got off to a disastrous start losing 3 wickets for 4 runs. However a tremendous century stand between White and Lewis set up the victory and despite a further couple of wobbles Beddington got home by 5 wickets with 4 overs left. Beddington pulling off a hat trick of victories. In the Wasim Raja Plate Final Purley won the toss against Old Ruts. and decided to bat first on a very wet and slow wicket. At 27 for 6 this did not seem to have been the wisest decision. However a battling 42 from Ahmad Raja helped them to reach a semi-respectable 102 all out. Old Ruts. started slowly but gradually became accustomed to the conditions and sensibly worked the ball patiently around the field getting home with 10 overs to spare. The concept of holding both games at the same time was a great success with a fine turnout being boosted by all of the club’s sending their player of the year along to receive their bat signed by the County side. These awards were presented on behalf of The Surrey Trust by Micky Stewart at tea. The generous support of the Trust was warmly acknowledged by the large throng who had gathered in front of the clubhouse. The main presentation after the games was made by Alan Butcher who seemed in suitably buoyant mood following the confirmed promotion of the First Team into Division One of the County Championship the previous day. Beddington have set the standards for Finals day and, as winners, it is hoped that they will host the Finals again in 2007. INTER COUNTY FINAL
Beddington, as winners, therefore qualified to represent the County against the Kent Academy who were the winners of our sister Kent League. Not surprisingly the Academy proved to be just too strong having greater depth in both batting and bowling. Beddington bowled tightly to restrict The Academy to just over 200. But having started well the middle order were removed cheaply and they eventually lost by 52 runs. However the day provided the final ‘first’ for the 2006 season which saw Wimbledon host the inter-County final on behalf of Surrey (it has previously been played at Beckenham). Again Wimbledon provided a fantastic venue and Kent passed on their thanks and appreciation. CONCLUSIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS So the season saw some significant developments and became firmly established with Clubs from all over the County and, I am delighted to report, various Leagues. Most importantly I can report a very positive reaction from all of the participants and heart-warmingly no reported disciplinary problems of any type yet again. I thank every one of the Clubs and their players for the outstanding spirit in which the matches have yet again been conducted. For 2007 plans are in place for a Second XI League which will be aimed at introducing the next group of youngsters into the League at each club. This has proven necessary because the clubs that have been playing for a few years have players who are still eligible to play and are not too keen to drop out to let younger players play, such is their enjoyment of the matches. The proposed format will be 6 players under 18 with 4 being under 16 (the main league being 6 players under 21 with 4 being under 18). Ideally those slightly older colts (17/18) will take on the captaincy providing good experience of leadership. The league will also help to set up friendlies for those who wish to field an Academy team throughout the summer. 4 new clubs have applied to enter the League in 2007 which will take the League up to 36 Clubs playing in 4 zones. Once again I need to express my thanks to The Trust for their continued financial support and most importantly their encouragement, to Richard Sels of Teams Sports Development who continues to provide the balls, stumps and coloured kit at cost whilst also running the Kent League, to Eric Sands for his tireless organisation and especially to Chris Bullen who helped get the project off the ground and has done so much to ensure its success. Steve Macdonald, Chairman Surrey Trust League
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