Comings & Goings, Ups & Downs

You may wonder why after all of this the Club slumped to finish third from bottom of Division 1C in 1991, with only Ian Carrington, at ninth, and Bob Curtis, at twenty-ninth showing in the league’s divisional batting table. The main reason was an internal falling out between some players and Club officials which saw the departure of Phil and Dave Reeves, Mark Curtis and Ray Easom. Colin Fletcher gave his all for the cause to finish the season in ninth position in the division’s bowling stakes, taking 50 wickets at an average of 15.40, and alas a cruel twist of circumstances was to compound the depression, for Clipstone were to be punished by the league for misdemeanours by being relegated from Division 1A, two divisions, into 1C thus causing the necessity for three teams instead of the usual two to be relegated from that division. The 2nd XI fared a better campaign by finishing fourth in Division 2E, with John Binfield again starring with the ball claiming 38 wickets at 11.16 apiece.

Season 1992 finished with the 1st XI halting what appeared to be free fall by finishing mid-table in Division 1D, aided by the return of Dave Reeves to provide depth to both the batting and bowling. The season ended with further good news in the return of Mark Curtis to the Club for the last nine games of the campaign, in which he scored 269 runs at an average of 44.83. The Club’s junior ranks had also unearthed another jewel in the form of Malcolm Brown who finished twenty-third in the divisional batting charts with an average of 24.06. The 2nd XI finished fifth in Division 2E with John Binfield again claiming 30 wickets at 9.77, ably supported by Paul Bailey, another product of the Club’s junior system, who also took 30 wickets at a cost of 13.37 apiece.

Mansfield Chad 24th June 1992 - “Langwith all-rounder Dave Reeves must still be on cloud nine after a tremendous performance with both bat and ball on Saturday. Playing against Misterton in Division 1D, he took no fewer than seven wickets for just 33 runs as the visitors collapsed to 115 all out. But that wasn’t all! Reeves haul included a hat trick and there was still more to come from the experienced player. For he powered to an unbeaten 53 as Langwith knocked off the runs for the loss of just one wicket.”

1992 was to be the 2nd XI’s final season in the Bassetlaw and District Cricket League as the playing ranks were now decreasing and although the team could be made up with youth players, the provision of transport was proving a difficulty. It was hoped 1993 would bring a change in the Club’s fortunes with the return of Dave Cheeseman from Shirebrook and the maturing of a wicketkeeper/batsman in “Billy” Parker (scoring 372 runs at an average of 31.00 with the bat and taking 27 victims – 24 catches and 3 stumpings – at the back of the wickets), proving that the Club’s youth policy, under Robin Brewster who had also become Chairman of the Club since 1985, could still nurture cricketers with great potential, but the team couldn’t run the pace of the whole campaign and were disappointed to miss out on promotion, finishing third behind Robinsons and Thurcroft. A monumental effort saw Colin Fletcher take 69 wickets at an average of 9.83 apiece from 325 overs, which included 107 maidens. Fletcher was supported by Cheeseman in the bowling seeing him claim 45 wickets at 12.77 each, whilst Ian Carrington headed the batting with an average of 45.09, scoring 496 runs which included two centuries. A point to note is the fact that Fletcher’s sixth wicket of the 1993 campaign was his 500th at 1st XI level. The Sunday team won the Mansfield and District Cricket League Section D, with their thirteen straight wins being the best record throughout the league’s four sections.

1994 proved that the previous campaign had been a start in the upturn of the Club’s fortunes aided by the return of Ray Easom to reform a formidable opening batting partnership with Ian Carrington, who between them scored 108 runs, with Carrington fourth in the divisional batting charts with 53.75 and Easom fifth with an average of 49.00, both of which were overshadowed by Mark Curtis’ average of 67.00, scoring 335 runs from just eight innings. On the bowling front Colin Fletcher again amassed 69 wickets, this time at a miserly average of 9.39, a feat that won him the Bassetlaw and District Cricket League’s ‘David Mason Memorial Cup’ for the best bowling average in Division 1 Sections D, E and F. Fletcher was supported by the raw fast bowling talent of Paul Bailey who took 24 wickets at 11.17 apiece. These performances along with some outstanding fielding and cameo roles from players including Dave Reeves, Garry Messenger, Ian Sharpe, John Binfield, Dave “Titch” Humber, Steve Wilkinson and Mark Wakeling enabled the team to finish second behind Mansfield Colliery and promotion to Division 1C was achieved for the second time in five seasons. Fletcher’s campaign figures took his overall Bassetlaw and District Cricket League bowling figures for the Club to: Overs:2790.1, Maidens:778, Runs:7224, Wickets:634, Average: 11.39

The years between 1995 and 1997 saw the promotion side inexplicably break apart with Fletcher and Curtis joining Mansfield Hosiery Mills, Carrington moving to Cuckney, and Easom and Cheeseman making another return to their hometown club of Shirebrook. The loss of these influential players was too much for the team to take and successive relegation followed in 1995 and 1996 and by the end of 1997 the club’s decline had been confirmed, seeing their dramatic fall, from promotion to 1C in 1994 to a third from bottom finish in Division 1E in 1997, and bringing another relegation to the basement division, 1F. To make matters worse was the fact that the team had been deducted six points for disciplinary matters and then found themselves five points from safety at the end of the campaign. Only Paul Bailey featured in the division’s bowling averages with an average of 14.14, claiming 35 victims from 164 overs. No batsmen reached the league’s qualification of scoring 300 runs and averaging 20+ to feature in the division’s batting table. In the period of great sadness for the Club this was encapsulated by the sad death of one of the Club’s all time heroes Walter Frodsham who passed away in 1996 and his ashes were spread at the Pavilion End of the Club’s ground.

A quirk of fortune however during the close season meant the Club maintained their Division 1E status for the 1998 campaign, due to a new club that was due to an amalgamation between Hasland and Robinsons Cricket Clubs not having enough players to fulfil their commitment to the league. If that was not good news for the Club more was to follow in the return of Fletcher and Curtis from Mansfield Hosiery Mills, and Cheeseman, with Shirebrook once again relinquishing their Bassetlaw and District Cricket League status.

Away from the field of play, 1998 saw Robin Brewster make the decision to retire from the Chairman role and relinquish his involvement with the senior level of the Club, deciding to focus solely on the junior teams. Robin’s replacement as Chairman was Mark Wakeling who joined Robin’s junior side in 1978, captained the Club at every level, held official positions including Secretary and Treasurer, and now at the age of thirty was to become one of the youngest Chairmen in the Club’s and the Bassetlaw and District Cricket League’s history, as well as still being a active member of the playing staff. The team finished mid-table with the batting again proving the biggest concern, highlighted by the fact that only Mark Curtis with an average of 120.25 from seven innings, including a magnificent 151 not out against Pilsley, and the hard hitting Dave Hasell, who had joined the Club as a raw recruit in 1996, who averaged 21.33 from 12 innings making the grade for the league’s divisional charts. On the bowling front the Club boasted four players in the league’s end of season charts, Fletcher 10.46, Cheeseman 11.45, Bailey 17.86 and Binfield 18.90.

The lure of Division 1A cricket with Mansfield Hosiery Mills at the beginning of the 1999 campaign again proved too much for Mark Curtis to turn down and he left the Club. This was softened by the return of Dave Reeves to give the batting some platform upon which to build, as did the realisation in “Titch” Humber becoming a steady left handed opening batsmen who was now putting together some consistent scores at this level, having joined the Club five years previously from Warsop Vale along with another left hander in the shape of Lee Ashmore who enriched the Club’s fielding department. The side also had a influx of juniors in the shape of Carl Cheeseman, allowing him and Dave join an elite band of father and son partnerships playing for the Club, and Richard Radford who brought with him an air of optimism with his spin bowling, a weapon in the Club’s arsenal that had been missing for many seasons. The side finished tenth in Division 1D but many viewed the millennium with a air of hope for the Club.

Langwith Cricket Club