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The Racqueteers
Summer of 2020
CAPTAIN’S REPORT 2020
Evening chaps.
So nice to see you all - thanks for Zooming in.
What a year we’ve all had...
When ‘Lockdown 1’ was announced I remember chatting with our esteemed
President and we concluded, rather depressingly, that any kind of 2020 cricket
season wasn’t really very likely to happen...
Thankfully how wrong that proved to be!
As restrictions eased, our delayed season started on a beautiful evening at the sublime Brockwood Park
ground with a fabulous and exciting win against the ever-affable White Hunters; a game most notable - &
victory made possible - by some unbelievable outfi eld catches by Charlie T.
Our season continued with excellent wins at the bucolic Braishfi eld ground in our inaugural fi xture against
Newport Inn CC, against The Milbury’s, an emphatic triumph at home over the RHCH with superb fast
bowling performance led by our new Racqueteer Angus, and at the idyllic Goodwood on another perfect
summer’s evening.
Many performances stand out - as our stats guru Gaurav’s summary highlights - but I must just draw
attention to the phenomenal and consistent run-scoring of the Professor this season and the fantastic
commitment of Tom W for travelling down from London for our matches; so pleased to see Tom score his
excellent maiden Racqueteers 50 at Swanmore.
As well as, Angus, it’s been terrifi c to welcome David P into the team this year and to have the much-
appreciated umpiring expertise of Lyndon.
It’s always an honour and privilege to captain the Racqueteers and this past season has been no exception;
indeed, with all that’s happened in 2020, with our excellent cricket - always played in the right spirit - on so
many wonderful grounds, it has been particularly poignant and cherished this year.
Here’s to an even fuller fi xture card (with some exciting new fi xtures to come in 2021!) and to further
success on the fi eld, always combined with our wonderful Racqueteers camaraderie & friendship off the
fi eld. Thank you all.
Mike Fowkes, November 2020.
1
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
It’s a real shame that our tenth anniversary season was truncated because of Covid,
but what an enjoyable – albeit short – season
it turned out to be! I echo Mike’s words about this; we’ve played some great cricket
and with some great individual performances
but, above all, the spirit in the team has been really special this year. It’s been a
year of such uncertainty and the relative norm of a game of cricket – save for the lack of teas and hand
shaking – has been a fabulous fi llip to this crazy year.
But there is light beginning to appear at the end of the tunnel, and I feel very optimistic that we’ll get a full
season in next year, under near-normal conditions. The fi xture diary is fi lling up nicely – I’ll talk more about
this later – and we’re delighted to have two new players join the squad for 2021: Chris Readman and Luke
Sully. Welcome to The Racqueteers, guys, and we look forward to seeing you on the square next year.
Once we know more about guidelines over the coming weeks we hope to arrange our usual indoor winter
training, both at Dummer and RPLC. If indoor cricket proves to be diffi cult, we’ll arrange some outdoor net
sessions at a suitable location. I hope, too, that we’ll be able to enjoy our postponed curry – together, and
in person – shortly before the start of the season.
My thanks, as always, goes to the unsung heroes that keep the wheels of our club turning; Lol for his
scoring; Lyndon for umpiring; Gaurav for his stats (and compiling this report) and those who have
contributed match reports during the season. And, of course, to our fabulous skipper, Mike – whose
season was sadly cut short after a very painful hamstring injury at Swanmore. Mike is always there to
steady the ship; to give calm, reassuring support and advice to us all – and steer us through to many
victories on the pitch. We are extremely fortunate, too, to have a wonderfully dependable, and talented,
deputy in the Professor. Thank you both – and you all – very much indeed.
Finally, huge thanks to our generous sponsor, Yellowtail, arranged by our very own Kevin Chinn through his
company Casella Family Brands. Yellowtail contributed £260 towards the – sadly cancelled – King Alfred
Trophy at the end of this season; this will roll over to the start of next season when we plan to host this
tournament on Sunday, May 2
nd
. Yellowtail’s sponsorship paid for a portable scoreboard, pitch hire and
some shiny pink balls! Kevin also donated some pink fi zz for prizes – and a magnifi cent pop-up banner,
which will form part of our kit for 2021. Many thanks, Kevin!
Mike Caldwell, November 2020.
2
MAN OF THE SEASON
My season has been given the added bonus of getting to know this
delightful man much better. He has played in fi ve out of our eight
matches, and each time hopped on a train from London to come all the
way to Hampshire to join his teammates – often having some pretty
arduous journeys because of Sunday timetables.! I’ve met - and dropped
him off - at a variety of Hampshire railway stations, and he’s always been
full of enthusiasm for the game of cricket – and life in general, despite
the drudgery of furlough.
He scored an excellent maiden half-century at Swanmore, and anyone who has batted with him will know
what a great partner he makes. He’s shown real commitment to The Racqueteers - and has an off-drive that
is the envy of us all.
He is, of course, Tom Wesseley – and a very worthy Man of the Season for 2020! Bravo,
3
Old, need an
update
SEASON SUMMARY
COVID TIMELINE (DELAYED START)
4
Win/Loss: 5/3 Runs Scored: 1,218 Wickets Lost: 55
Catches Taken: 18 Run Outs: 04 Stumpings: 02
Overs Bowled: 190.2 Runs Conceded: 1,004 Wickets Taken: 52
BATTING (TOP 10)
BOWLING (TOP 10)
5
6
7
DETAILED STATS – BATTING
8
DETAILED STATS – BOWLING & FIELDING
9
