Our square (*Jim's square) is officially the 4th best in the Sussex County League! To put this into perspective, we were up against 48 other clubs around Sussex! The scores are awarded each week in matches officiated by panel umpires. Jim's wickets scored on average 17 (out of 20) and only Preston Nomads (17.63), Cuckfied (17.33) and Mayfield (17.11) scored higher. We're proud to be up there in such esteemed company, the only side outside of the Premier Division in the top six! Pagham and Stirlands also scored highly (well done Div 3 West!).
You can see the final table of pitch rankings here. It's a little confusing, pitch and outfield scores are combined here, which is why you don't see us fourth in this list, but we were fourth when you look closely, honest!
Of course, this is no less than Jim and team deserve and reward for all the hard work Jim puts into creating the wickets we play on as players, fantastic work Jim, we're more than grateful! He was ably assisted over the season by a cast of characters who made a huge difference. Jim certainly welcomed having some reliable help with the heavy lifting! Volunteers who helped during the season were Morne Louw, Al Reeves, Rob Parker and John Blackall when available.Tim Woodcock and Sam Collyer also did a fine job at Thakeham.
The hard work does not stop there! Two/three weeks ago the square was intensively scarified, fertilised, seeded and top dressed with nearly two tonnes of cricket ground loam; following which we fenced it to keep out unwelcome vermin. Over the next few months Jim will be mowing, fertilising and controlling weed growth as necessary; it will be aerated (deep spiked) before Xmas; then (depending on weather and ground conditions) Jim hopes to commence pre-season rolling before the end of Feb, looking to roll the full square about a dozen times before we commence individual pitch prep.
