SENIOR PRESENTATION NIGHT - 2009

Players, wives, girlfriends and supporters gathered at Kellington Manor for the first Senior Awards Night the club has held. Before, the presentations everybody enjoyed an Indian meal generously donated by our new sponsors, Bibbys Indian Takeaway from Knottingley, and took part in a picture quiz.

There were various awards, some serious and some humorous to reflect the fact that it isn’t always possible to be successful.

The first award was the Quackers trophy for the player ‘scoring’ the most ducks in the season. Tom Howard received a little yellow duck for his 5 no scores. However, Ist XI captain Simon Vaux was presented with a big yellow duck for his six noughts. He was also presented with a magnifying glass to help him in his search for his lost form.

The next award was the Red Inker award for the player with the most not outs in the season. Legendary Red Inker, Tony ‘Tiger’ Holmes , was beaten to this by Nathaniel Reeson, who produced a series of not outs during the Ist XI cup run. However, Tiger was not to be beaten in the Most Sixes award. Once front runner Joe Simpson left for an extended holiday at the seaside after 7 games, he said he was working, Tiger just managed to pip Adie Parker.

Tiger was again a leading contender in the 2nd Xi Best Bowler category along with Nathaniel and Mattie Daniel. In an extraordinarily close contest, the awards committee decided in favour of Mattie Daniel, for his return of 32 wickets.

There was no stopping Tiger when it came to the 2nd Xi Best Batsman award. Last season’s captain, Scott Haigh was Tiger’s only real challenger with 450 runs, but with the most runs, 600, and the best average Tiger was a clear winner.

The 2nd Xi Players’ Player of the Year was voted for on the night by those at the presentation from a shortlist of three, Tiger, Mattie and Nathaniel, which was drawn up by the Awards Committee. Tiger polled the most votes and was a deserving winner.

There were also three performance awards for the 1st Xi. There were two leading contenders for Best Bowler. Martin Hudson with 36 wickets and Mattie Draper with 45 both with an average of about 16. Mattie’s extra wickets just gave him the advantage.

If Chris Smith had managed to stay fit in the first half of the season, he might have given the winner of this award a run for his money. As it was Chris scored over 300 runs in half a season, but the clear winner in his first season with the club was Nicky Kirton, with 650 runs including his maiden WBCC century against Sandal.

As with the 2nd Xi the 1st XI Players’ Player of the Year was voted for on the night from a shortlist of three, Nicky, Martin and Mattie. Mattie’s 45 wickets and 200 runs were just enough to get him the nod over the other two strong contenders.

The final presentation of the evening was the President’s Trophy which is given annually to a person whose work on behalf of the club has made a significant contribution to the continuation and development of the club. In a break with tradition, the trophy was presented to a group of people rather than one individual. The recipients were the Tea Ladies who work tirelessly on behalf of the club on Saturday afternoons and raise significant sums of money for the club as well as providing delicious teas.

Thanks to Bibby’s sponsorship the evening raised over £300 towards the club funds and will hopefully be the first of what we hope will turn into an annual event.