CACC home > Previous > Summer 2000-01

• Captain's report
• Season Awards
• Player Statistics

In place of match reports, here is the season report for 2000/01 from Captain Phil. The season awards then follow. If you'd like to check out everyone's stats for that season, have a look at the player stats below page.

The Skipper speaks thus:

We now arrive at that point in the evening which I actually enjoy a great deal which is recognition of the efforts that everyone has put in during the course of the season and rewarding particular enthusiasm, effort and/or excellence. However, before proceeding, I would like to say a special thanks to Rachel for having the barbarians at the gates of Rome, so thanks Rach from everyone and, here is a bottle of wine so that you will be able to blot out the whole experience. And so onward and looking back over the score sheets for the season that was, I was reminded of a tale Jimmy "the Don" Hislop told me up at the pub about how David Gower was speaking to his team after the poms had been whalloped 5-0 in an Ashes series and, I imagine at a post season function not dissimilar to this, David said that the important thing was to focus on the positives. At which, a voice at the back piped up, "that wont take long then".

But seriously, this season has seen a significant improvement which, for me at any rate, was very encouraging. Three wins and a number of might have beens to finsish, I think, 6th on the table is a big step forward and a great effort all round. However, down to business, and the part that you have all been eagerly awaiting. To see who will scoop the pool this year. Will it be, Mark "Crouching Tiger" Drury, who, by his own admission, when behind the stumps, used the Hopoate to upset a number of batsmen to great effect. Or perhaps V.V.S King, the dashing right hander from Glebe whose promise at the end of last winter to "never get out ever again" may actually be a handicap to those judges with long memories or even Jimmy "the Don" Hislop whose cries of "strength and honour" as many a batsmen went out to meet the lions was a great source of comfort to us all.

However, there are a number of awards so make yourselves comfortable and charge the glasses in anticpation.
Anyway, keeping with the tradition that ECC is, the following awards have been awarded through a strict democratic process whereby I consulted nobody and, instead, took wise counsel from Johnny Walker and Pierre Smirnoff in the wee hours of last night. Consequently, there may be some controversy and the stewards may have to be called in. However, all blame can be laid at my feet and those who didn't slip me a blue before we walked in will know better next year. So on to the first award. A new category for 2000/01, the "Injury in the line of duty award" for which a mini bat signed by the team is awarded, we have a number of contenders, John "the Rock" Harvey doing his back at training, Meng "you know where the pavilion is" Lee's hook shot into his own face to name but two, However, it really came down to two, our very own Joe "Il Presidente" Kerr's spectacular finger injury in the pre-game training that he has been instrumental in encouraging (the irony being lost on no one) and Paul "gammy knee" Sheehy breaking down with a tragic injury early in the season. And the winner is, Paul "gammy knee" Sheehy who played in an all too few 4 games but nevertheless ending with 57 runs at an average of 19 with the bat and taking 6 wickets at 16.67 with ball.

The next award, the "ECC special service award", goes to that person who really went the extra yard for the team and, at the end of the day, cricket is a team sport and one of the things I truly love about it is the fact that I get to play cricket with may dad, my brother, mates from uni and jobs long past and a whole heap of people I would never have met without the game that cricket is. It is a privilege. Anyway, this award, the "Don Bradman, never to be repeated, memorial biscuit tin award" goes to a new member of the squad who went out of his way to organise training week after week, and who has the best send off in the game. Meng "you know where the pavilion is" Lee. There are three awards in the next category, a very simple one, the "five wickets in the innings award". One of these is actually a year overdue, to the bloke who took the first "five for" of the club and the only five for last year. Simon "the flying frog" MacInerney. Sorry it's late. The second, with his match winning figures of 7-21 in the last game of season which propelled us into 6th on the table, Mat "match winner" Keogh. And finally, Greg "funky" Duffy with the impossibly good figures of 5-8.

The next award, the "golden gloves award" for fielding, won last year by our very own president, is a hotly contested award and there were a number of stand out efforts this year in the field. Nathan "disc jockey" Laird, Marty "top gun" Zeiebl and Jimmy "the don" Hislop all put is excellent efforts in the field on a number of occasions. However, I have to thank every member of the team for the awards tonight, as the policy of $2 per dropped catch actually ended up paying for all of tonight's awards. Anyway, some will say there is an element of bias in tonight's winner or, should I say, winners as we have a joint award, two people who performed an all too often thankless task, our wicket keepers John "the Rock" Harvey and Mark " crouching tiger" Drury, joint winners for their efforts behind the stumps.

Following on from the men behind the stumps, comes the award for those who hurl down the thunderbolts and the tweakers, always with passion if not accuracy. Again, a number of contenders, Manish "the Delhi express" Dham whose recall to India was a great blow. Two games, 8 wickets at the typically frugal average of 14.75. Jacob "scary spice" Joseph, rushed into the team at the 11th hour taking 2 wickets in his comeback match at 9.5 was a sterling effort. Michael "tragically underbowled" Harvey, 5 wickets at 19 and Meng "you know where the pavilion is" Lee, 7 wickets at 26 all stood a chance to snare this award. However, it really boiled down to two, V.V.S. King, 133 overs, leading wicket taker with 29 at 17.48 and Mat "match winner" Keogh 26 wickets at 13. A tough decision, however, the judges came down on the side of the new guy. Mat, congratulations.

Now, people say cricket is a batsmen's game, what that says about our season I will let you decide. However, this season, as a team we averaged 119, a big step up from last year's 80 odd. 3 batsmen with a 200 plus aggregate, another 3 with 100 plus and another 4 with 50 plus was a great effort. Consequently, once again, a number of people put their hand up for this award. Timmy "lost to grade cricket" Bondin, a dashing 58 being the 2nd top score for the season - however, only played one game and if ECC is forced to become a training school for grade official protests will be lodged. Mat "match winner" Keogh, whose 221 at 20.09 including 3rd top score of 57 was the highest average of those who played 3 or more games, John "the Rock" Harvey, 114 at 12.67 and still showing the young pups how to bat into his 62nd year, Mike "tragically underbowled" Harvey, 170 at 12.14 and Phil "Skipper" Harvey with 196 at 14 showing it, dare I say it, runs in the family. V.V.S King, topping the aggregates with 273 runs at 18.2 and Timmy "car crash" Simons highest score for the season of 68 and scoring 214 at 17.83 also demand a place in last eight. So I think you will all agree that the competition for this award was stiff and I was forced to consult the third umpire a number of times. However, I decided to go back to first principles and this award goes to somebody who set himself a goal, worked hard at training to achieve it. Someone who was the foundation on which many great innings was not built and someone who copped a lot of flack, most of all from me. You have probably guessed, Mike "I was tragically underbowled and that is because there is a reason - you open the batting and not the bowling" Harvey walks away with this award. Mainly because, he promised me he would average over 10 for the season and did so, including the 4th top score of 53 and in tandem with Tim "car crash" Simons, built a number of great partnerships, most notably a magnificent 99 at Booralee and primarily because after so much niggle at the pub he finally started playing what in Rugby union might be called "the running game" or in cricket, what we call, playing the odd shot.

Anyway, I have rambled long enough and we are now down to the business end of proceedings. Two awards to go and we all want to know who gets best actor and best film. So, firstly, best actor, otherwise known as "the Kim Hughes captain's award for rookie of the year". A plethora of candidates this year. Mat " match winner" Keogh, Paul " gammy knee' Sheehy. Who can forget Jimmy "the don" Hislop, whose exploits on the field we have already heard of and Timmy "car crash" Simons whose exploits off the field we heard all too much of during the season. Stevie "the smiling assassin" Johns and Meng "you know where the pavilion is" Lee both showed enormous promise for coming seasons. It was not an easy decision. However, Timmy "car crash" Simons, congratulations. Before moving to our final award, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who played this season, and, in no particular order, they were: V.V.S. King, Mike "tragically underbowled" Harvey, John " the Rock" Harvey, Mark " crouching tiger" Drury, Jimmy "the don" Hislop, Steve "the smiling assassin" Johns, Tim "a new dad" Wallace, Nick "cash for comment" Leys, Timmy "lost to grade" Bondin, Greg "funky" Duffy, Timmy "car crash" Simons, Marty "top gun" Zeibel, Simon "the flying frog" MacInerney, Lachlan "Copolla" Whatmore, Nathan "disc jockey" Laird, Chris "no room" Bertram, Brendan "slugger" Turner, Paul "gammy knee" Sheehy, Meng "you know where the pavilion is" Lee, Mat "match winner" Keogh, Jacob "scary spice" Joseph, Anthony "never knew his surname" Surname, and Manish "the Delhi express" Dham.

And now, the moment we have all been waiting for, best film for the 2000/2001 season, otherwise known as "the President's Cup". This has never been awarded before and we have a special trophy and you no doubt have all been wondering what's in this box, well, I give you the "president's Cup". Anyway, unlike a lot of awards tonight, this award did in fact award itself. It goes to the only man who played in every game this season, took the most catches (8), scored the most runs (273), took the most wickets (29) and has been the pulsating left ventricle of the ECC for two seasons. A man who just quit his job as Sydney's most promising young lawyer to become Sydney's most promising young novelist and, as of tonight, is the Cup winner for 2000-2001: David "V.V.S." King.
On a final note, the full text of this speech and all the statistics will be published on the newly developed web site, the address of which will be advised by Mike.

 Here are the various awards with which we pat each other on the back at the end of each season. For the numbers behind them, have a look at our statistics.

Season Awards

President's Cup (player of the season): Dave King
Kim Hughes Captain's Award (rookie of the year): Tim Simons
The Weeping Willow Trophy (batting) : Mike Harvey
Arm-of-Steel Trophy (bowling): Mat Keogh
Golden Gloves (fielding & catching): John Harvey & Mark Drury
Five-for Medal (5 wickets in an innings): Mat Keogh & Greg Duffy
The "50 club": Tim Simons, Mat Keogh, Tim Bondin & Mike Harvey
The Body-on-the-Line Award (injury in the line of duty): Paul Sheehy
Above & Beyond Award (special services to the team): Meng Lee
The 'Fall Guy' Award for Captaincy: Phil Harvey

Club Players - batting and bowling averages for 2000 - 01: