Delighted skipper Kirby hails a ‘fantastic year’ for Widnes CC
WIDNES Cricket Club first XI captain Chris Kirby has reflected on a season to remember as they secured the Vivio Cheshire County Cricket League Division Two crown.
Kirby’s team won 14 of their 22 matches to finish on 426 points, 44 ahead of secondplace Upton who also won promotion.
Widnes rounded off their terrific campaign with a draw against Christleton.
Kirby said: “It was a good game but both teams didn’t have much to play for.
“We’ve obviously already won the league and they were safe in fifth place so we didn’t take it too seriously and tried to enjoy ourselves a little bit.
“We decided to draw the batting order out of a hat but it backfired as most people ended up in their usual positions!
“Matty Burns opened the batting and he usually does anyway but we did well and got 256-7 in the end.
“They were a bit defensive and didn’t really go for it which was slightly disappointing. We would have liked to have seen that.
“It just highlighted how dominating we’ve been this season, though, as so many teams have tried to play defensively against us as we’ve been so strong.”
Kirby commented on the season as a whole, and despite a slightly inconsistent start, the second half saw his side dominate matches.
Widnes went long periods unbeaten throughout the latter stages and Kirby said it showed the development of the club.
“It’s been one of the best second halves to a season I’ve ever played in,” said the skipper.
“In the first half of the season we did well but we dominated literally every game in the second half.
“I think we won eight, drew two and had one rained off before we won the title.
“There have been so many positives. Matty Burns scored a century a few weeks ago and before the start of the season he’d not yet scored a firstteam 50.
“The young players have really stepped up to the plate too and it’s been great to see how far they’ve come.
“We were recently awarded the Cheshire County Aggregate award which is a combined points total of our first and second XI across all leagues.
“It basically means we’ve been the most successful club in the league with both our teams winning their leagues so that’s just fantastic.
“I’d sum up the season as ‘mission accomplished’,” he said.
The captain is already looking ahead to next season and he hopes a strong recruitment push will help improve the squads further, adding competition for places.
“We want to compete next year and not just survive.
“We want to get promotion again.
“The last time we were in the Premier League, we relied on professional players.
“For the first time in a while, we have a really strong group of local, amateur players and that’s important.
“We don’t want to buy success, we want to grow it.
“It’ll be good to get some more players involved with the club though and competition for places will be important.
“We want to attract as many players as possible in order to do that.
“Our second-team sometimes suffers as I get first choice on players when we have injuries etc. so we want to avoid that.
“There’s been a lot of planning and effort gone into the success this year and a number of people behind the scenes have been really supportive for me personally.
“Sean Moore has been really great as my vice-captain. I’ve missed a few games and he’s been there and stepped up to the plate for us.
“Andy Burns has done a great job as the secretary too and we can’t underestimate what the committee has done throughout. It’s been a fantastic year overall.”