Burntwood St Matthews Cricket Club have celebrated another successful year at their end of season awards presentation evening.
As well as individual recognition, the event also celebrated the club’s achievements of a fourth-place finish for the Saturday XI first team in the Staffordshire Division 3A, and the under 13s side also finishing fourth in their league, as well as making a cup final appearance.
Former club chairman John Sewell was given the honour of presenting the trophies, which included a new award – The Barry Ebdon Clubman of Year award, formerly known as the Clubman of the Year award. The new trophy is named after a Barry Ebdon who passed away last year and contributed massively to Burntwood St Matthews CC. The club was pleased to welcome Barry Ebdon’s granddaughter, Hayley Ebdon, to the event to present the new award.
The first award of the night was for the highest batting average. This trophy went to all-rounder and skipper Matt Crossfield, whose batting average for the season was 53.71 runs.
The best bowling average gong went to all-rounder George Haywood with an average of 14.91 narrowly heading a competitive award section.
The fielding award went to all-rounder Luke Dovey. Despite having a good season in both batting and bowling departments, it was in the field where Luke really stood out and shone.
The most improved player title went to youngster Oliver Stainton who made several fine displays in the first team when called upon across the season.
The Players’ Player of the Year award went to Matt Crossfield, who picked up his second trophy of the night. He fully deserved the award as in addition to showing his talents with the bat – an average of 53.71 runs and a total 1,128 runs for the season – he also topped the wicket-taking chart, chipping in with 52 wickets.
The final award of the night was also the newest – the Barry Ebdon Clubman of the Year award. This went to chairman John Farmer.
John was a deserving recipient of this trophy, with his work to benefit Burntwood St Matthews as a club being recognised. John’s dedication was further highlighted when he played in an away game against Coseley CC 2nd XI when the team was struggling for players.
As well as the senior players’ awards, there were also trophies given out for the youth teams’ players.
The winners of these awards were:
- Lydia Perry – Under 9s Outstanding Player Award.
- James Earp – Under 11s Batting Award.
- Sam Cottrell – Under 11s Bowling Award.
- Matthew Earp – Under 11s Fielding Award.
- James Earp – Under 11s Players’ Player Award.
- Natalie Ashford – Under 13s Batting Award.
- Reece Ennis – Under 13s Bowling Award.
- Keaton Dobson and Mitch Bailey – Under 13s Fielding Award.
- Sam Perry – Under 13s Players’ Player Award.
The night allowed everyone associated with the club to reflect on a successful year where much progress has been made – especially the formation of Burntwood St Matthews’ ladies team. It also served as a reminder that there is still work to be done over the winter months to keep the club moving forward and make it an attractive place for new players to join.
