By Anton Lloyd-Williams
Saturday, 24th November and a pleasantly crisp afternoon breeze refreshed the 16 Sharks and Spouses who assembled at Moto Yawata in Chiba.On the team sheet today we had Dave L, Kris B, Chris C, Taka, Tommy, new Shark Adit and his wife Swarna, Murad, new Shark Eiro, Sushant and his wife Niti as well as Sushant Junior, Moto, Nick Creece, Vicky and his wife Shweta and Anton.
The venue was the quality Indian restaurant Athiti whose staff made us very welcome and were more than happy to show England clobbering India on the wide screen telly.
We settled in with a brew and MC Kris Bayne ran through the proposed schedule of events. First up was Dave Lollback with the Captains Address. First Year players – Sushant, Moto, Ruman, Murad, Imran, Molloy, Mick Lay and Rockey were warmly welcomed to the fold as were New Sharks, Eiro and Adit.
The Officers were roundly thanked for fulfilling their duties with aplomb, particularly Tommy who took on the difficult role of Treasurer and did a perfect job. Dave also mentioned our nailbiting victory over the Uni XI the weekend before and produced the winning tankard, shaped like a trophy, bizarrely, and warned all attendees that they would be expected to imbibe celebratory waters from it.
Next on the list was Man of the Match. These are given to the player, in each match, who receives the most Best Player points from his team mates. Anton was given the honour of running through our 13 match season and handing over the vouchers to the lucky recipients. In brief this is how our season panned out; (all those of a delicate disposition look away now)
Game 1 – JCL – Sun 22 Apr – Wombats @Sano3 Lost
Sharks bat first and make 206 ao in 40th over3rd – Sushant
2nd – Chris T.
MOM – Dave Lollback
(121 off 107)
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Game 2 – J-Cup – Sat 19 May – University @Sano1 Lost
3rd – Murad
2nd – Sumon
MOM – Prashant (58 off 47)
Game 3 – J-Cup – Sat 19 May – Keio Knights @Sano 3 Won
Sharks bat first again and make 174 / 5 off 20 overs3rd – Tommy
2nd – Prashant.
MOM – Dave Lollback (63 off 38)
Game 4 – JCL – Sat 26 May – Sano @Sano3 Lost
3rd – Sushant
2nd – Charles
MOM – Dave Lollback (3/38 hat trick)
Game 5 – JCL – Sat, 23 Jun – Wyverns @Sano3 Lost
Sharks bat first but 6 ducks lead to a ghastly 87 ao off 24 overs3rd – Navin / Sayeed
2nd – Prashant
MOM – Sushant –
( 12 off 51)
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Game 6 – J-Cup – Sun, 01 Jul – MAX @Sano4 Lost
Sharks bat first and collapse but the tail wags to spare our blushes. Sharks 92 / 7 off 203rd – Anton / Dave L
2nd – Rockey
MOM – Vicky (1 wkt and 28 off 17)
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Game 7 – JCL – Sat, 21 Jul – Adore @Fuji2 Won
3rd –Dave L
2nd – Sumon (4/36)
MOM – Prashant (88 off 74)
Game 8 – J-Cup – Sun, 29 Jul – Paddy Foleys @Sano2 Lost
3rd – Sagar
2nd – Sushant
MOM – Prashant – (3/18)
Game 9 – J-Cup – Sun, 29 Jul – Paddy Foleys @Sano2 Lost
3rd – Kris B
2nd – Dave Lollback (34 off 14)
MOM – Prashant – (75 off 39)
Game 10 – JCL – Sat, 11 Aug – Sano @Sano3 Lost
Sharks field first and start well. However 100+ in last 10 overs pushes Sano onto 269 for 8 after 40.3rd –Sumon / Prashant
2nd –Dave Lollback
MOM – Murad (41 off 41)
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Game 11 – JCL Q. Final – Sat, 8 Sep – Wombats @Sano1 Lost
3rd –Sumon
2nd –Dave Lollback
MOM – Vicky (4/43)
Game 12 – Friendly 30/30 – Sat, 13 Oct – Indian Tigers @Koiwa Lost
3rd –Molloy
2nd –Sayeed
MOM – Rockey (19 off 24 and 1 wkt)
Game 13 – CC – Sun,18 Nov, > UnivXI @Chiba Port Park Won
3rd –Dave Lollback
2nd –Rockey
MOM – Adit (2/14) and Sumon (31)
And that, Ladies and Gents, was our season in a nutshell. Generally woeful, but as with the darkest night, it is the few bright stars that shine on in the memory……or something.
Before introducing the next segment, Secretary Bayne took a moment to recall the Sharks glories in this year’s Winter League, where (under his stewardship don’t forget!) the Sharks clinched their maiden Championship and with it, a grotesque cup and grotesquely large amount of vouchers, both of which we would do very well to clinch again during this coming campaign. Sign ups are already in the Forum guys…
Moving on, and a hush descended over the audience as Chris Thurgate rose to officiate over the centrepiece of the ceremony; The Individual Awards section. The noise briefly rose again as a few punters found themselves beerless for the main event but order was restored as refreshments arrived. This year was the first year that, in addition to a Certificate and Voucher, each recipient would also receive a trophy carefully crafted from bric-a-brac and ephemera acquired from antiques markets, relatives and dustbins across the South East of dear olde England by Sharks Carpenter-in-Chief – A. Lloyd-Williams. You can see them on our Honours Page here. Anyway, here we go:
Best First Year Player
With players of seasoned quality such as Murad, Molloy and Lay coming into the side, not to mention up and coming talents such as Imran and Ruman, this was always going to be a tightly contested award. It has been great to watch these players show their talent on the field and their charm off it. Each has added to the richness of the Sharks side in his own way. It’s on the field where the points are scored though and one newbie stood out pretty soon as a major player for the side. Cultured and patient batting combined with direct and effective bowling lead to there being one winner;
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Most Improved Player
Undoubtedly, we had some pretty dour times this season but one bright spark that kept flickering was the clear improvement in the abilities of a number of players. Dave Lollback and Prashant’s batting, although top notch, became regularly so. At the other end of the scorecard Anton, Tommy and Sayeed all showed that they could put a kick in the tail with some outstanding cameo performances.
There was one player though who started the season quietly but ended it as the first name on the team sheet. His fielding improved over the course of a few games to such a degree that he earned his own mantra. His bowling became a regular source of timely wickets and his batting put many of his seniors to shame. Guts and bravado in abundance aligned with a good dose of skill gives the Sharks one of the most dynamic young players on the circuit today!
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Best Fielder
Yes we’ve dropped a few catches this term but we’ve held onto a few too and, on occasion, cut off runs like a double dose of Diarreze. At certain times the intensity in the field has been palpable and the whole team has often been lifted by a moment of magic – many come to mind – Lollback’s diving catch on the run, Sayeed’s ruthless runouts, Tommy’s tumbling dives at Gully, not to mention Rockey ruling the Square Leg from about June onwards. In the middle of this excellence, one player stood above the rest in the fielding cauldron to be found behind the stumps. His energy and activity was once compared to that of a Jack Russell terrier during a mass breakout at a Guinea Pig Convention. He is, and probably always will be, the only ever Shark to successfully field his own overthrows. We salute you.
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Best Bowler
The Sharks continued their tradition of top notch bowling this season. Some of our new players showed what they could do when the Mojo was on and our more seasoned players displayed the devastating outcome of skill aligned with experience. We were fortunate enough to witness another Hat-Trick moment this year courtesy of Dave Lollback as well as some breathtaking spells of quality, unplayable bowling particularly from Molloy and Sagar where almost every ball looked like a wicket taker. Although many bowlers had fantastic games, the Best Bowler Award reflects a whole season of relentless quality, of wickets more or less every game, of testing line and length from ball 1, week in week out.The Sharks are extremely lucky to have such a player. Not just the best bowler in the Sharks, in many minds, he is the best in Japan.
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Best Batsman
It’s fair to say that our batting was an Achilles heel for the Sharks in 2012. Too many silly, self-inflicted batting collapses started playing on the team’s collective mind and only served to generate more. There were a few bright moments towards the end of the season – Sushant showed that he should be playing Tests with his ability to hang around, Sumon got to open his bag of tricks on a dry a ground while Sayeed threatened to knock the bowlers back to the stone age in a memorable session against the Wombats. In general though, it was carnage. Two players stood out though, accounting for over half of all Sharks runs this season. Dave Lollback blasted a monster century plus in our very first outing while Prashant played one of his most refined and complete innings, securing our Division 1 survival in the crunch clash versus Adore CC. In the end though, it’s all down to runs on the board…
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Spirit of the Shark
For every hour we spend on the field of play, we probably spend 2 organizing it. This task falls to the Officers of the club who arrange everything from finances to training, from travel arrangements to umpiring duties. There are many caps that need filling behind the scenes at a club like the Chiba Sharks. If you read the labels inside these caps you’ll find one name inked in more than any other – a true servant to the club who in his time has acted as Manager, Secretary, Skills Adviser, Reporter, Scorer, Chairman of Selectors, Umpire, Taxi Driver, Opening Bat and Saizeriya Wine Drinker (plus he has a family to look after). There is only one Kris Bayne.
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Cricketer of the Year
You really have to be quite good to get this award. It is awarded to the player who accumulates the most Man of Match points over the course of the whole season and to regularly feature on those little pieces of white paper we hand out at the end of every match requires something a little out of the ordinary. It requires leadership with both the bat and the ball; selling your wicket very dearly (if at all) and supporting other players as they come to the crease and bowling with real intent, as if each ball could turn the game in our favour. Our Captain has these qualities but has demonstrated many, many more this season. A true master of motivation, his unerring ability to raise the team to new levels of effort and concentration have made a real impact this season. Cricketer of the Year, for the second year running is Mr. Sharks – David Lollback.
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And so came to an end an excellent afternoon in fine company. Celebratory drafts were taken from the Chiba Cup and Manager Lollback thanked the Officers and Management Committee for a job well done, he thanked the staff of Athiti for a feast well served and several players drifted off to Funabashi to get well…well….you know. Here’s looking forward to next season. We have plans underway to make it one of the most important years in the Sharks’ history and set a bedrock on which future generations of Chiba Sharks can enjoy the great game on these shores. Cheers!
