Romsey Town achieved something quite remarkable this season, missing out on promotion from CCA Junior 3 South by the unusual amount of three feet. An off-line throw and we would have tied with, rather than lost to, Helions Bumpstead back in May; and the 5 extra points would have allowed us to sneak past Burrough Green and into second position on the league table. As it was, we had to be settle for third place and a solid 9-5 record for the year. Even if was just short of what we'd wanted, it was way better than we managed in 2013.
The big difference was that we actually made some runs, the highlight being consecutive scores of 264/4 against Harlton and then 308/4 against Sawston, the latter comfortably breaking the old club record. Both innings rested on the back of undefeated centuries by James McNamara, who finished his abbreviated season with 251 runs at an average of, er, 251.00. Not having batted six times he was ineligible for the batting award, although the eventual winner, Robin Eddington (352 runs at 44.00) was most deserving of this honour for a season of consistent run-making. Rather excitingly, this award wasn't decided until the final delivery of the season, which third-placed Andy Owen (245 runs at 40.83) hit to the boundary, thus leaving Olly Rex (216 runs at 43.20) one big hit short of Robin.
The bowling award also went down to the wire, as Andy Owen (15 wickets at 14.07) would have been pipped by Daniel Mortlock (22 wickets at 14.64) if he could have finished off the final innings. That said, it wasn't quite clear that either of them were the best bowler this year, as Jeff Beaumont (10 wickets at 9.30), James McNamara (7 wickets at 10.57) and Ferdi Rex (11 wickets at 11.45) were even more penetrative (but didn't bowl the 40+ overs required for qualification).
Even the fielding had its moments, and it was rather nice that the top three catch-takers were all batsmen who'd made fewer runs than the previous season, thus demonstrating how there are many ways to make a contribution on the cricket field.
Off the cricket field, there is only one type of contribution that really matters, and that's the one that keeps the club going. And for Romsey that inevitably comes from Chateau Owen on Brampton Road - thanks as ever to Andy and his family for putting the "CC" into Romsey Town.