By Anton Lloyd-Williams and Kris Bayne
A championship winning season deserves a fitting conclusion and 21 assorted Sharks, wives, girlfriends and babies met in Kudanshita on a beautiful late Autumn afternoon to see that the achievement was celebrated accordingly. Vicky and Anshul had scouted currymeisters “Mumbai” as the location for this year’s awards ceremony and once the late lunchgoers had departed the Sharks had the place to themselves and kept the staff on their toes dishing up numerous tasty delicacies and pot after pot of beer.
Many thanks to Anshul and Vicky for setting this up and also to the restaurant staff for putting up with us.
A cold-ridden Anton Lloyd-Williams was generously relieved of the MC duties by Shark go-to man Nick Creece who performed the role, at very short notice, with a gusto and contempt for formality that a Pom could only ever dream about…..feverishly.
First on the oche was Cap’n Chris Thurgate to give his yearly address. He doesn’t catch much but when he does it’s important. Cap’n Chris caught the glowing mood of the assembled in a speech that embedded our season into Shark folklore. Since the early days of the club we had often come so close to glory but had always let ourselves down on the day, especially when faced by Wombat opposition. 
This time we had stood up and taken our chance and launched a new chapter in Shark history. Stirring stuff indeed, embellished with Cap’n Chris’ own memories and own version of accepted grammar.
The Cap’n also gave a toast to those members who left the club this season (Alexis Coovre, Rishafy and Mayank Dabral) as well as to our new players for next year (Koji Watanabe and Ankit Shrimal – A warm welcome guys).
Rowdy cheers welcomed Manager Kris Bayne to the floor to run through the match highlights for the JCL and KCL competitions for the 2010 season as well as announcing the Man of the Match for each game. In brief, here’s how the season went;
May 16th JCL – Paddy Foley’s @ Sano2
Result: Chiba Sharks Won by 32 runs
Sharks 254 all out (P. Giles-Jones 80, A. Kamal 49, C. Thurgate 34)
Paddy Foley’s 222 all out
Best Players:
Fielder: Thurgate (Great catch)
3rd: Thurgate
2nd: Kamal
Man of the Match: Giles-Jones
June 6th KCL – Al Karam @ Ageo
Result: Chiba Sharks Lost by 171 runs
Al Karam 320 all out (S. Haque 3/47, A. Coovre 3/70, L. Thurlow 2/46)
Sharks 159/9 (P. Giles-Jones 58*)
Best Players:
Fielder: Bayne (great job as stand-in keeper)
3rd: Sumon
2nd: Coovre
Man of the Match: Giles-Jones
June 13th KCL – Lalazar @ Ageo
Result: Chiba Sharks Lost by 4 wickets
Sharks 188/8 (D. Lollback 66, N. Jinasena 22*)
Lalazar 190/6 (D. Lollback 2/12)
Best Players:
Fielder: Bayne (good catch as stand-in keeper)
3rd: Coovre
2nd: Jinasena
Man of the Match: Lollback
June 20th KCL – YC&AC @ YC&AC
Result: Chiba Sharks Lost by 4 wickets
Sharks 157/8 (N. Deshpande 48, S. Haque 41, D. Lollback 27)
YC&AC 158/6 (S. Haque 2/28)
Best Players:
Fielder: Deshpande (great slips catch)
3rd: Lollback
2nd Sumon
Man of the Match: Deshpande
11th Jul JCL – Wombats @ Fuji
Result: Match rained off
Wombats 201/7 (A. Kamal 3/13)
Sharks (Rained Off)
25th Jul JCL – Sano@ Sano1
Result: Chiba Sharks Won by 44 runs
Sharks 257/8 (D. Lollback 67, P. Giles-Jones 63, P. Kale 46, C. Thurgate 29*)
Sano 212 all out (P. Giles-Jones 5/29, V. Sancheti 2/27)
Best Players:
Fielder: Thurgate (catches and stumpings)
3rd: Prashant
2nd: Lollback
Man of the Match: Giles-Jones
22nd Aug JCL – Wyverns @ Sano1
Result: Chiba Sharks Lost by 106 runs
Wyverns 297/1 (N. Jinasena 1/34)
Sharks 191/8 (P. Giles-Jones 57*)
Best Players:
Fielder: Gurjinder (great all-round effort)
3rd: Creece
2nd: Jinasena
Man of the Match: Giles-Jones
4th Sep JCL semi final – Wyverns @ Sano1
Result: Chiba Sharks Won by 6 wickets
Wyverns 116 all out (A. Kamal 5/20)
Sharks 118/4 (A. Hussain 48)
Best Players:
Fielder: Giles-Jones (good catch)
3rd: Prashant
2nd: Hussain
Man of the Match: Kamal
26th Sep JCL Grand Final – Wombats @ Sano1
Result: Chiba Sharks Won by 20 runs
Sharks 200/8 (P. Giles-Jones 61, A. Kamal 54, D. Lollback 28)
Wombats 180/9 (P. Giles-Jones 3/18, L. Thurlow 2/12, A. Kamal 2/44)
Best Players:
Fielder: Thurgate (catch of the Century)
3rd: Lollback
2nd: Kamal
Man of the Match: Giles-Jones
9th Oct Chiba Cup – Japan All Stars @ Togane
Result: Match Abandoned
Japan All-Stars 119 all out (N. Jinasena 3/13, N. Deshpande 2/2, T. Morimoto 2/21)
Sharks 95/7 (V. Sancheti 26, N. Jinasena 11)
So a good haul of beer tokens (can also be used for baby milk) for Pat Giles-Jones. Dave Lollback actually thanked Pat for not playing against Lalazar, allowing him to pick up the prize for that game. Following a brief sejourn for refreshments and food, ceremonies continued with the individual awards for the season:
Best Fielder
A tightly contested award this year as the Sharks had been pretty tight in the field all season. A lot of players showed they were willing to give it their all whether it be taking sharp catches, diving on the ball to stop boundaries or making swift runouts. Special mention went to Kris Bayne for his commendable performances as stand-in wicket keeper and to Gurjinder for his terrier-like fielding abilities. In the end though, there was one who stood head and shoulders above the rest courtesy of a string of fine catches and sharp stumpings, not to mention The Catch Of the Century. The award went to Cap’n Chris Thurgate.
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Best Bowler
The Sharks boast a fine array of bowling talent, as deep as it is varied and some great individual performances with the ball were integral to the Sharks success this season. Thurlow and Coovre took 7 wickets a piece while Ahmed “The Colonel” Kamal bowled some unplayable spells, culminating in a devastating 5 for 20 against the shell-shocked Wyverns. He finished with a tally of 8 wickets for the season.
Other bowlers have often said that year’s winner should get more wickets but he’s simply too quick for the batsmen to hit. With 12 wickets to his name, including a glorious fivefer against Sano, the award was given to Patrick Giles-Jones.
Best Batsman
Sharks batting, previously a cause for concern, also stood up well this season and we witnessed several good partnerships blossoming at crucial times. Prashant Kale played in his usual bullish, powerful fashion racking up 99 runs while Kamal showed he is as adept with the willow as with the leather, chalking up 112 at an average of 37.3. Dave Lollback provided plenty of grit and powerful strokeplay in the middle order and ended the season with 220 runs at an average of 31.4. Again though, one player stood out as a dependable and relentless accumulator of runs, acquired with a considered barrage of attacking strokes that were a joy to watch. With 330 runs at an average of 82.5 and a top score of 80, the award went to Patrick Giles-Jones.
Best First Year Player
A number of new players enjoyed their first full season with the Sharks in 2010 – Anshul Bahl, Anton Lloyd-Williams, Ashiq Hussain, Gurjinder Saggu and Sumon Haque. There was one more though who, from the outset, showed seasoned prowess with both bat and ball. Known by some as the Bangladeshi quick who got Sherwin Campbell caught behind, but known to us as “The Colonel”, this year’s Award went to Ahmed Kamal. Welcome to the Sharks!
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Spirt of the Shark
Appendix IV of the sorely under-read Sharks Constitution states that this Award should go to:
“The member, chosen by the Club Captain, who best embodies the spirit of the Sharks and who through his or her actions makes a significant contribution to the Sharks over a period of time.”
Cap’n Thurgate simplified this somewhat by choosing “the bloke that always tells us what to do and makes sure we do it.” Either that, or he does it himself. No one could claim more right to the title of “Mr. Sharks” than this year’s Spirit of the Shark Award recipient, former decent bowler, David Lollback.
Cricketer of the Year
A no-brainer this one (see above for details). An absolutely outstanding season for Pat Giles-Jones. He has been Mr. Reliable this season with runs and wickets that have, more often than not, turned a game in our favour. Congratulations from your Sharkmates Pat and here’s hoping that next year continues in the same rich vein.
After the Awards Dave Lollback passed on a few words of appreciation to Sharks, both present and not, for their tireless work behind the scenes that made possible such a successful season; Chris Thurgate and Taka Morimoto for their mighty efforts in organising the inaugural Chiba Cup, Kris Bayne for a sterling job done as Manager, Navin Jinasena for his devotion to the stats, Anton Lloyd-Williams for his work on the website, Nikhil Deshpande in his multiple roles as Treasurer, MC member and Skills Advisor, Levi Thurlow for his MC work and last but by no means least Iain Lambert for the superlative job he has continued to do as Club Secretary.
With that, Nick Creece wrapped up his highly entertaining stint as MC with the news that he had decided to hang up his bat. Niggling injuries and family commitments had kept him off the pitch for too long this season and with no end in sight he has called it a day. Nick, having made over 1000 runs for the club, over 7 years, you leave as a true Sharks Legend.
The guests bade each other farewell and sauntered out into the crisp evening air to carry on the merriment elsewhere and help Pat find a wheelbarrow so that he could get all of his awards home.
That brings to an end a great, great season for the Sharks. Roll on the next one!
