Goole Cricket Club - season of achievement

Published on 28th December 2007 in Sport

Club President Stewart Gibbins remarked early in the 2007 season - at Studley Royal, actually - that he felt the first team, when all available, was the best squad that he had seen together in his time at Westfield.

He didn't necessarily mean that they were the best individual players he had seen, but that as a unit when at their best there was nothing to match them.

Well, apart from one or two bad afternoons late in the season, and the unforgiving weather of June and July, where Goole actually struck lucky once or twice, it was a marvellous campaign, culminating in promotion to the Premier Division of the York Senior League for the first time - arguably the highest the club has ever been.

The team was led for a third season by Neil Foster, and although his own personal performances may not have been the best of his career, the fact is that his presence and sound mind in making decisions took his charges to promotion on the final day, September 15.

They did gel as a team, too. Yes, there were many fine individual performances with bat and ball, none more so than from Ashley Hulme (two centuries, eight 50s) and Dave England on a consistent basis.

However, with Anthony Gibbins, especially in the first half of the season, Steve Hicks with lusty hitting in several games and Richard Mann, good spells with the ball, one of his best for the club 6-24 against Scarborough, where his second spell was lethal, those moments of magic went in no small way to cementing a top two place for most of the way through.

Their summer recruit from Carlton Towers, Mark Holmes, may not have scored the runs he would have liked either, but his safe hands at slip were an asset in a specialist position.

A lot of followers pointed the way at Hulme, though. His second season with the club, after helping them win promotion in 2005 from Division Two, was even better than that, and his 1,000-plus York League runs, together with 50 wickets, underline his value - excellent value, it has to be said. Fingers crossed, it looks like he will be spending 2008 with the club despite overtures from elsewhere.

And what of 2008? Well, there do appear to be differing views on how the club may do.

Club captain and marvellous servant Steve Foster believes the team can compete. One or two players believe, and I think it is a fact that they may need strengthening in some respects, but the policy of Goole C.C., which has to be applauded in many ways, is to grow home-made talent. A look into the second team now sees a fine crop of players similar to many of the current first team, who benefitted in the early days of Foster's coaching.

If Goole can consolidate in the Premier Division who knows, they can introduce some of those youngsters, i.e. John McGrory, Jake Mahoney, Scott Thorpe, James Kerr etc. into that standard, and it may reap dividends.

One or two had a small taste of it last term, and never let the side down - therefore Steve Foster's predictions may be right.

Whatever happens, it will be an experience, as the standard of York Senior League cricket is noted throughout the county and Goole are in the mix.

All one can hope for is a drier summer and no repeat of days such as at Beverley in June, where players were hanging around for three hours with absolutely no chance of even a ten-over slog - those occasions, and another forlorn trip to Folkton and Flixton, test the patience of the most placid of people.