A remarkable season ended with Cat CC 1st XI lifting the Division 2 title, more than making up for last years disappointment at Nationwide where we failed to win promotion on the last day of the season.

After a disastrous start of 3 losses and 2 cancellations, Cat CC took on Collingbourne at home needing a win to lift ourselves off the foot of thetable. With the strengthening of the side from last season, notably Mark Wiltshire and Richard Hemmings, Cat CC put Collingbourne to the sword that afternoon and won comfortably. Mark was Man of the Match with a terrific 82 and Richard grabbed 3 wickets to give the home side a huge confidence boost.

An easy win over Blunsdon was to follow before we thrashed Swindon CS with the batsmen really coming to the fore. Simon Bailey continued his great form from 2005 and hit 92, whilst Steve Rendell did likewise hitting 58. A win the following week against Moredon made it 4 straight victories and set us up nicely for a crack at Buscot Park who had thrashed us on the opening day of the season. After a shaky start, we managed to dig ourselves out of trouble, scoring 278 runs from 45 overs. Dean Wallington and Sanjay Costa batted excellently but special mention goes to John Wiltshire and Richard Jory for their efforts with the bat that day. Considering both players had spent little time at the crease thus far, their match winning partnership of 124 really took the stuffing out of Buscot and we ended up winning easily.

This superb victory was eclipsed by an even stronger performance against top of the table Spye Park the following week. Man of the Match Matthew Hemmings showed his true class on a scorching July afternoon taking 4 wickets for 28 in 12 overs. Brother Richard offered excellent support and with Simon and Steve hitting 127 for the 1st wicket we recorded a surprisingly comfortable win.

Burbage were next up and in a rain affected game Gary Burns and Dean Wallington featured in a terrific 135 run partnership to take the game away from our opponents. Wins against Avebury and Seagry were to follow making it 9 straight victories and the prospect of taking over top position if we could beat Collingbourne. An excellent game ended with another hard fought victory and top of the table was consolidated with a comfortable win over Swindon CS in our next match. Although rain on the last day of the season meant we couldn't wrap up the title in style, it was still a terrific effort from the Cat CC players to win 11 games in a row after such a horrendous start.

As with last season, outstanding contributions with the bat came from Simon Bailey and Steve Rendell. Simon finished with 729 runs at an average of 72.90 whilst Steve made exactly the same number of runs as 2005 (505), but at an improved average of 42.08. But the Player of the Season was Dean Wallington, making at least 4 match winning innings and scoring 367 runs at a remarkable average of 73.40. Mark Wiltshire made 300 runs at an average of 27.27 showing bags of potential for next season and Sanjay Costa weighed in with 205 runs averaging just under 26. Gary Burns made 187 runs at an average of just under 27 and John Wiltshire scored 117 runs averaging a very respectable 29.25.

On the bowling front Richard Hemmings finished top wicket-taker with a hugely impressive 24 wickets at just under 23 runs per wicket. Richard Jory bowled as well as ever taking 23 wickets at a shade over 16 runs, with a superb economy rate of only 3.45 runs per over. Matthew Hemmings continued to trouble the best batsmen in the league and finished with 21 wickets at just under 17 runs per wicket. In addition, Dean Wallington claimed 16 wickets at 23.38 and Steve Rendell took 11 wickets at 14.45.

Special note of thanks to Phil Mortimer our new groundsman who started doing the work on the cricket square at the start of the season following the retirement of his predecessor. In such a short time Phil has made tremendous improvements to both the square and outfield. Phil works for Gordon Gill, the County Pitch Inspector. Their brief is to upgrade pitches to help Club's improve their playing facilities. We look forward to working with Phil and Gordon for many years to come.

Also, thanks to John Wiltshire who so admirably umpired all but one of our matches and Ruwani Bailey and Nanga Costa, for supplying such delicious and tasty teas for both teams your efforts were much appreciated.

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