Strollers Averages - 2002 Season

The Strollers' Season ended on September 8th with a win against WRECC, meaning that the 2002 was an unbeaten one. There were a number of close hard-fought victories, none more important than the win against Alderley Edge XI on the annual tour. Heavy run-scoring throughout the batsmen was topped by Fayaz Aziz who scored 604 runs - a colossal effort. Fayaz was not out in 50% of innings and so ends the season with an unbelievable average of 100.67. In terms of aggregate runs scored, which is the basis of the Batsman of the Year award, he scored more almost double than the return of Mick Matthews. A clear winner of the Batsman award - Fayaz Aziz.

Bowling was more tightly contested, with Paul Lupton eclipsing Raj Sharma by 2 with 15 wickets at a miserly 12.60 per wicket. Paul adds another bowling award to his 1995 and 2000 awards.

BATTING (qualification 5 innings) 

BOWLING (qualification 32 overs) 

Catches:

6 – F.Aziz,  J.Reidy (4 as wicket-keeper) & R.Sharma

5 – M.Matthews (all as wicketkeeper)

4 – P.Lupton

3 – N.Clark, P.Lees, O.Lloyd-James & S.Robinson 

2 – N.Moors

1 – K.Burney, A.Humphrey, G.Kowalczyk, V.Ladwa, G.Lee, C.Sampson, C.Wilkie-Jones & M.Yates

Stumpings: 

2 - M.Matthews

Review of the Strollers' 2002 season

The Strollers' season opened with a sense of something new in the air - for the first time in 20 years the legendary Phil Connell was no longer a part of the team. Other stalwarts such as Nick Matthews (subsequently awarded an MBE), Alun Hughes (the Welsh Wizard) and Gary Rodgers (forced to give up through injury) were also unable to take part in the Club's activities. To fill the void left by Captain Connell it was decided to appoint a captain on a match by match basis.

The first match resulted in what is known as "a winning draw". Having declared at 204 for 6 (Fayaz Aziz scoring an unbeaten 59), the Strollers were unable to break a stubborn rear-guard action from the British Library in the time available, so the game ended in stalemate.

The next five matches resulted in five wins for the Strollers. The Strays were beaten twice, including being bowled out for 37 (Ben David taking 4 wickets for 4 runs), and Salix, Frimley Green and Ickenham were the other victims in this run. The Frimley Green game was a particularly tense affair. With the Strollers defending a total of 196 in a 40 over game, Frimley Green had reached 146 for 2 with 10 overs remaining. Three Strollers had sustained injuries, so wicket-keeper Mick Matthews had to remove the pads to bowl seven overs (taking two wickets) and some splendid bowling from Simon Robinson and Ben David restricted the home side to 186 for 6, enabling Strollers to win by 10 runs.

It was back to "a winning draw" in the next game, against the Energy Exiles. The Strollers scored 262 for 3 declared, which included the highest partnership in the Club's history when Robinson and Aziz put on 192 for the second wicket (Robinson going on to make 130). Once again, Strollers were unable to bowl out the opposition, who energetically resisted all temptation of even thinking of the win, scoring 134 for 7.

The Club's annual tour to Cheshire took place in late July. The first game at Prestwich was washed out (surprise, surprise) after only 5 overs, but the remaining two games against Alderley Edge both ended in Strollers victories. The second win was particularly satisfying since it was the first time Strollers had beaten the stronger of the Alderley Edge teams in four attempts, and thus the trophy was brought back South at last. This match also featured the first "huddle" in Strollers' history, when captain Nick Clark urged the team to field like Dervishes in defending a total of 150 from 40 overs. Despite some younger members of the side not knowing what a Dervish was, the ploy obviously worked since Alderley Edge were bowled out for 143, with just one over remaining. George Kowalczyk taking an impressive 4 wickets for 21 runs.

Back in London, Strollers continued their winning ways with a 138 run victory against new opponents Brixton Casuals. The Strollers score of 279 for 5 in 40 overs (just 9 runs short of the team's highest ever score) included an amazing 93 extras. Rain again ended proceedings early in the next game against WRECC, where only 19 overs were bowled before the heavens opened.

The final four games of the season all ended in further victories. Haud Magnum, British Library, Brixton Casuals and WRECC saw wins of 103 runs, 108 runs, 7 wickets and 173 runs respectively. The Haud Magnum game saw Fayaz Aziz hit his maiden century and the final match saw new discovery Simon French taking 4 wickets for 24 runs.

In retrospect it was a fine season, with the Strollers remaining unbeaten throughout. Of the 16 games played, 12 were won, 2 were drawn and 2 were abandoned because of rain. In terms of results, 2002 stands as the Club's second best season (the unforgettable summer of 1995 saw 19 victories and 1 draw from 20 games). Strollers scored an average of 176 runs per game (the Club's second highest average) and lost only 4.5 wickets per game (the previous best being 5.1 in 1984).

Fayaz Aziz won the Best Batsman award with 604 runs from 12 innings (including 6 not outs) at an average of 100.67. Paul Lupton won the Best Bowler award with 15 wickets in 12 games, although Raj Sharma topped the bowling averages with his 13 wickets costing only 10.46 runs a piece. Aziz, Sharma and John Reidy each picked up 6 catches in the field. Personal achievements also included Nick Clark hitting his 3,000th run (only the second Stroller to have achieved this feat after Phil Connell) and Paul Lees taking his 150th wicket (the third Stroller to do so after Jim Bird with 208 and Paul Lupton, now on 184).

Despite the departure of some "old campaigners" the club and saw some promising young players take the field. Owain Lloyd-James (Welsh Wizard II) and Simon French look particularly exciting prospects.

However, the season ended on a poignant note when Charles Sampson (the Alvin Kallicharan ofThe Strollers) announced his retirement from the Club. Charles has been a mainstay of the side over the last 8 seasons and his arrival coincided with the Club's recent run of successful seasons. His 86 appearances saw him invariably open the batting, giving the side a sound basis on which to build. His 1,547 runs in 76 innings sees him seventh on the all time run-scoring list, and his 63 wickets of slow left arm bowling leaves him eighth in the wicket taking table - a true all rounder. He holds the record of scoring in 65 successive innings, which will probably never be beaten. We always looked forward to the last game of each season when Charles would bring along some (home made?) West Indian firewater for us to try out - we shall all miss him.

And so, having looked back we must also look forward. The 2003 season will soon be upon us, so we have booked a series of pre-Christmas evening net sessions at the MCC Indoor School at Lord's. If you would be interested in joining the Club and taking part in these sessions, please contact Paul Lees (Skipton House) on 020 7972 5016 or Paul Lupton (Adelphi) on 020 7962 8089.

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